New Delhi [India], April 30 (ANI): Amid the evolving situation in West Asia, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways on Tuesday detailed the measures being undertaken to ensure the safety and security of Indian vessels and crew in the region.
It was stated that the Ministry continues to coordinate with the Ministry of External Affairs, Indian Missions, and maritime stakeholders to ensure seafarer welfare and uninterrupted maritime operations.
All Indian seafarers in the region are safe, and no incident involving Indian-flagged vessels has been reported in the past 24 hours. The DG Shipping Control Room has handled 8,155 calls and more than 17,399 emails since activation. In the past 24 hours, 121 calls and 285 emails have been received, according to the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.
The Ministry, through the Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping), has facilitated the safe repatriation of more than 2,857 Indian seafarers so far, including 28 in the last 24 hours from various locations across the Gulf region. Port operations across India remain normal, with no congestion reported.
The Ministry of External Affairs continues to monitor developments in the Gulf and West Asia region, with focused efforts on ensuring safety, security and welfare of the Indian community in the region.
The government is giving high priority to the welfare of Indian seafarers in the region. Indian Missions are extending all assistance to them, including coordination with the local authorities and agencies, extending consular assistance, and assisting with requests to return to India.
Enforcement actions continue across the country to curb hoarding and black marketing of LPG. Yesterday, more than 2300 raids were conducted across the country. PSU OMCs have strengthened and continued surprise inspections and imposed penalties on 336 LPG distributorships, and 72 LPG distributorships have been suspended till yesterday. On April 29, show cause notices were issued to 50 LPG distributors, and penalties were imposed on 11 distributorships, the release said.
Meanwhile, the LPG supply continues to be affected by the prevailing geopolitical situation. Supply of LPG to domestic households has been prioritised. No dry-outs have been reported at LPG distributorships. Online LPG cylinder bookings increased to 98% on industry basis yesterday. Delivery Authentication Code (DAC) based deliveries have increased to more than 93% to prevent diversion. DAC is received on the registered mobile number of the consumer. On April 29, more than 47 Lakh domestic LPG cylinders were delivered against bookings of around 43 lakh LPG cylinders.
Total commercial LPG allocation has been increased to about 70% of pre-crisis levels, including 10% reform-linked allocation. The total number of 5 Kg FTL cylinders sold during the month of Feb-26 was 21.7 Lakh. However, since 1st April 2026, about 21.75 Lakh - 5 Kg FTL cylinders have been sold. Yesterday, around 70,000 - 5 Kg FTL cylinders were delivered. Since April 3, PSU OMCs have organised more than 9750 awareness camps for 5 Kg FTL Cylinders, wherein more than 1,64,000 - 5Kg FTL cylinders were also sold, the release said.
Consumers have been prioritised with 100% supplies to D-PNG and CNG-Transport. The overall gas allocation to fertiliser plants has been enhanced to approximately 95% of their six-month average consumption. Additionally, gas supply to other industrial and commercial sectors, including supplies through CGD networks, is enhanced up to 80%. CGD entities have been advised to prioritise PNG connections for commercial establishments such as hotels, restaurants and canteens across all their GAs, to address concerns regarding the availability of commercial LPG.
—
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.
