Never Faced Such A Problem: Oil Minister Puri Answers Criticism Over Handling Of LPG Crisis

The government has been pushing for the faster roll-out of piped natural gas across the country since the start of the conflict in West Asia.

The government has faced criticism for not prioritising piped gas over LPG cylinders only after facing challenges due to the war-induced energy crisis.

Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday responded to this criticism, saying that India had never faced such a problem (LPG shortage) before and that the government has converted the energy crisis challenge into an opportunity to speed up PNG connections in the country.

“People ask why we did not think of this (expanding PNG connections in the country) before the crisis. We never faced such a problem before. Now that we are facing this problem, we have converted it into an opportunity,” the minister said.

He was speaking to the media after holding a meeting of the District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee in Varanasi as a representative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a foreign visit.

The Oil Minister said that the government wants to raise the number of new PNG connections in the country to 50,000 per day.

“We would like to convert up to 50,000 LPG connections to PNG every day across the country. This would help in the coming time,” he said.

Puri again assured that there was no shortage of either LPG or fuel in the country. He added that the government has also curbed hoarding and black marketing.

He said that the government has shielded citizens from a steep rise in fuel prices.

PM Modi had recently urged all citizens to reduce fuel usage and take steps to conserve the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

The PM had said that people should prioritise electric vehicles and public transport to save fuel. He had also asked citizens to limit foreign travel and stop buying gold for a year.