New Delhi, May 18: Indian public sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have successfully reduced their daily losses to Rs 750 crore from Rs 1,000 crore, despite ongoing supply pressures from the West Asia crisis. This was stated by Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, during an inter-ministerial press briefing on Monday.

The reduction in losses comes after OMCs raised petrol and diesel prices by Rs 3 per litre, while Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) prices increased by Rs 2 in cities like Mumbai and Delhi. Last week, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, had highlighted that OMCs were collectively losing around Rs 1,000 crore per day as petrol, diesel, and LPG continued to be sold below cost.

Sharma assured that refineries were operational, crude oil inventories were adequate, and there had been no shortages at petrol pumps, diesel outlets, or LPG distributorships. While isolated cases of panic buying were reported due to rumors, the government acted swiftly to replenish stocks and maintain uninterrupted supply. “Every effort is being made to keep petrol and diesel supply normal,” she said, adding that domestic cooking LPG distribution remained stable. However, commercial LPG supply was running at 70% of normal levels.

Sharma highlighted ongoing infrastructure expansion, noting that since March, 737,000 new PNG connections had been gasified, with infrastructure ready for an additional 276,000 connections. Over 776,000 people had registered for new connections, while around 58,000 consumers had surrendered theirs. In the past four days, roughly 172,000 domestic cooking LPG cylinders were delivered, with bookings also seeing a sharp rise.

Urea plants were operating at 96% of their natural gas requirements, and City Gas Distribution supply had been enhanced to 80%. Commercial sectors continued to receive full support from GAIL and other suppliers.

Sharma added that refineries had sold 8,730 tons of propylene and 3,420 tons of butyl acrylate since the start of the month, aiding downstream industries. To prevent malpractices, PSU oil companies conducted surprise inspections at nearly 2,800 retail outlets and LPG distributors over the past four days.

She appealed to citizens to avoid panic buying and purchase fuel only as needed, reiterating that the government was committed to ensuring consistent availability and delivery of petrol, diesel, and LPG across India.