Chennai, March 11
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighting urgent issues affecting the state and Tamils residing in West Asia amid the ongoing tensions in the region.
In a post on X, Stalin said he urged the Centre to take immediate steps to ensure uninterrupted LPG supply for domestic, commercial and industrial consumers in Tamil Nadu in view of the ongoing situation in West Asia.
CM Stalin also sought urgent measures to ensure the safety of Tamils stranded in the region, requesting facilitation of transit visas, coordinated evacuation efforts and additional flights for their safe return.
Stalin further said he has written to Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri regarding natural gas allocation for power plants.
He requested the Centre to revisit the methodology under the Natural Gas (Supply Regulation) Order, 2026, to ensure adequate gas availability for power plants to meet the upcoming summer peak power demand in the state.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister added that our MPs will hand over these letters in person to the concerned Union Ministers. We look forward to swift action from the Government of India.
This comes amid concerns over energy supplies amid escalated tensions in West Asia, following the killing of 86-year-old Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in joint military strikes by the US and Israel on Iran on February 28. The strikes also killed several senior leaders of the Islamic Republic.
Meanwhile, RK Gupta, the National Vice President of the LPG Association, has said that there is no shortage in the supply of domestic LPG."According to the oil companies, there is no shortage in supply. Commercial LPG cylinders have not been issued since yesterday, but an exemption has been given to hospitals and educational institutions. There is no shortage in the supply of domestic LPG," Gupta told ANI.
The Central government has invoked the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, to regulate the supply, availability and distribution of petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas, including LNG and re-gasified LNG, ensuring critical sectors receive priority supply.
According to the order, the supply of natural gas to certain sectors shall be treated as priority allocation and shall be maintained subject to operational availability to one hundred per cent. of their average past six-month gas consumption. These sectors include: Domestic Piped Natural Gas supply; Compressed Natural Gas for transport; LPG production, including LPG shrinkage requirements; Pipeline compressor fuel and other essential pipeline operational requirements.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has prioritised domestic LPG supply to households and ordered oil refineries to increase LPG production. It has formed a committee of three Executive Directors of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to review requests from restaurants, hotels and other commercial users.
India relies on imports of liquefied natural gas to meet its demand, a significant share of which comes from suppliers in West Asia.
- ANI
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