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New Delhi: On a day when the head of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol has said that no country will be immune to the effects of the crisis triggered by the US and Israel’s strikes on Iran, Indians continue to feel the impact of grave concerns over energy shortage.

Birol has said that the crisis has had a worse combined impact than the two oil shocks of the 1970s and the effect on gas markets of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The strikes have led Iran to choke the key Strait of Hormuz through which India gets a significant section of its oil.

Bloomberg has reported that ship-tracking data shows two Indian-flagged vessels, Jag Vasant and Pine Gas, which are carrying LPG, travelling through the Strait of Hormuz. India’s external affairs minister S. Jaishankar had earlier said that India has not been able to forge a ‘blanket deal’ with Iran and that each ship that will pass through the strait is being dealt with individually.

Troubles with the 20% allocation model

Starting today, the Union government will be allocating an additional 20% of commercial LPG to the states. This will take states’ total allocation to 50%. However, The Hindu reports that critically affected sectors in Kerala are yet to receive a proportional share.

According to the Union government’s directive, the additional 20% allocation is to be given on priority to sectors such as restaurants, hotels, industrial canteens, food processing and dairy units, subsidised canteens and outlets run by state governments or local bodies, community kitchens, and five-kg Free Trade LPG (FTL) for migrant labourers.

Ministry for Petroleum and Natural Gas secretary Neeraj Mittal wrote to chief secretaries of all states and Union territories saying that commercial and industrial LPG consumers will have to register with oil marketing companies – OMCs – before they can be eligible to be allotted any commercial LPG from the overall 50% allocation.

However, the finer points of how this arrangement will trickle down to eateries will come into effect only after the state government issues a formal order and communicates it to the oil companies, G. Jayapal, state president of the Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association told the newspaper. The KHRA represents around 60,000 registered hoteliers in Kerala.

In meeting convened by the Commissioner of Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, the association decided to allocate 20% of the actual LPG consumption of hoteliers to restaurants and hotels, based on consumption data available in oil company databases. “For instance, if a hotel had been using five LPG cylinders prior to the crisis, it would now be allotted one cylinder to meet its basic energy requirements,” the report said.

The paper notes how this model is challenged in the case of domestic users, who will struggle to establish previous daily consumption as many get LPG cylinders from private bodies and multiple agencies.

Many eateries across Kerala remained closed, the paper reported. Hotels under Kudumbashree, the poverty eradication and women empowerment programme implemented by the Kerala government, are among them.

Shimla pivots to firewood

The Indian Express has reported how in the shortage of cooking gas, the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation-run Hotel Holiday Home is cooking over firewood in a six-foot-long and one-foot-wide cavity.

“We call this cavity a char in our local dialect. It is a makeshift stove that has been used for centuries in our villages, but has gradually disappeared over time. Now, see how the clock has turned back,” Tulsi Ram, a member of the cooking team, told The Indian Express on the rainy Friday morning.

In addition to the trials posed by the rain, the process requires more labour than an electric or gas stove, the report notes.

Bengaluru PGs set a number

In Bengaluru, the Federation of PG Owners Welfare Association have decided in a core committee meeting to ask the government to set aside 500 cylinders of paying guest accommodations.

“There are at least 15,000 PGs only in Bengaluru where lakhs of people stay. The state government has assured us that they would provide us adequate LPG cylinders. We will meet the officers on Monday with a petition to provide supply immediately,” association president Arun Kumar said.

In a statement, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said domestic LPG production from refineries has been increased and city gas distribution has been advised to prioritise PNG connections for commercial establishments. Apart from this, commercial LPG consumers in major cities and urban areas have been advised to switch to PNG.

The government has asked states to take strict action against hoarding and black marketing. The ministry said that raids continue across states and UTs to check LPG hoarding and black marketing

© The Wire