Sufficient stocks of petrol, diesel available across country: Centre

New Delhi: The government has said that sufficient stocks of petrol and diesel are available across the country, and LPG is being supplied continuously for domestic cooking needs. Addressing the Inter Ministerial Briefing on Recent Developments in West Asia in New Delhi today, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Sujata Sharma, said that no dry-outs have been reported at LPG distributorships. She informed that over the past three days, more than 12,600,000 domestic LPG cylinders for cooking were delivered against bookings of around 11,400,000 cylinders. She added that all refineries are operating at high capacity with adequate crude inventories, while sufficient stocks of petrol and diesel are being maintained. She reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to reduce the consumption of petrol and diesel and advocated the use of public transport and car pooling.
Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Aparna Sharma, said that the stock of fertilisers in the country is more than 51% for the Kharif season 2026. She said that domestic production and imports of fertilizers after the crisis period have been 76.78%. She added that 97 lakh metric tons of various fertilizers have been added to ensure national availability for farmers.
Addressing the briefing, the Director at the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
Opesh Kumar Sharma said that all indian seafarers are safe in the region. He said that no incident involving Indian Flag Merchant vessels or Indian seafarers on foreign-flag merchant vessels has been reported in the past 24 hours. Mr Sharma added that the Ministry, through the Directorate General of Shipping, has facilitated the safe repatriation of more than 3 thousand Indian seafarers so far.
Additional Secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs (Gulf), Aseem Mahajan, said that Indian embassies and consulates continue to operate round-the-clock helplines to provide timely assistance and are proactively assisting the country’s citizens. He also informed that regular advisories are being issued, including information related to local government guidelines and flight and travel situations.
Briefing the media, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that India is in touch with the Iranian authorities to ensure the safe passage of Indian ships in the region. Mr Jaiswal stated that 11 Indian ships have already returned safely, while 13 Indian-flagged vessels are still in the area. He expressed hope that the remaining ships will also be able to exit safely soon with the cooperation of Iranian authorities. The Ministry informed that the Indian Embassy in Tehran has facilitated the movement of more than 2,500 Indian nationals out of Iran through land border routes.