New Delhi

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) on Wednesday directed all its zonal offices to make alternative arrangements at catering units across railway stations amid a growing shortage of commercial LPG cylinders triggered by the ongoing crisis in West Asia, sources said on Wednesday.

The directive comes amid heightened concerns over energy supplies following escalated tensions in West Asia after the killing of 86-year-old Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior Iranian officials in joint military strikes by the United States and Israel on February 28.

Meanwhile, RK Gupta, the National Vice President of the LPG Association, has said that there is no shortage in the supply of domestic LPG."According to the oil companies, there is no shortage in supply. Commercial LPG cylinders have not been issued since yesterday, but an exemption has been given to hospitals and educational institutions. There is no shortage in the supply of domestic LPG," Gupta told ANI.

The Central government has invoked the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, to regulate the supply, availability and distribution of petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas, including LNG and re-gasified LNG, ensuring critical sectors receive priority supply.

According to the order, the supply of natural gas to certain sectors shall be treated as priority allocation and shall be maintained subject to operational availability to one hundred per cent. of their average past six-month gas consumption. These sectors include: Domestic Piped Natural Gas supply; Compressed Natural Gas for transport; LPG production, including LPG shrinkage requirements; Pipeline compressor fuel and other essential pipeline operational requirements.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has prioritised domestic LPG supply to households and ordered oil refineries to increase LPG production. It has formed a committee of three Executive Directors of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to review requests from restaurants, hotels and other commercial users.

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Amid the supply disruption, the Central government has mandated a new 25-day inter-booking period for domestic LPG refills.

India relies on imports of liquefied natural gas to meet its demand, a significant share of which comes from suppliers in West Asia.