Oil companies, dealers say no need to panic as LPG bookings spike

NEW DELHI: Daily LPG bookings have more than 200% since Sunday but consumers need not worry about supply crunch during the lockdown period so long as they don’t resort to panic buying or rush to dealerships with empty cylinders.

Measures have been put in place to ensure uninterrupted home delivery of refills, officers of state-run fuel retailers and All India LPG Distributors Federation told TOI on Wednesday amid reports of delayed deliveries from a few states as police blocked movement of vehicles or personnel carrying cylinders.

IndianOil, the country’s largest supplier, received over 31 lakh bookings on Tuesday, up 215% from 9.84 lakh on Sunday, the day ‘janata curfew’ was in force. Distributors federation president Chandra Prakash said countrywide bookings have risen by 15-20% but still dealers were getting enough cylinders, which were being delivered. Some 24,382 distri