Rajesh Kumar Sinha, Special Secretary, Ministry of Transport and Waterways, and Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, (right) addressing the media at an inter-ministerial briefing on recent developments in West Asia at the National Media Center in New Delhi on March 19, 2026. | Photo credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
In a bid to monitor domestic fuel and energy supplies, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) in a midnight announcement on Thursday (March 19, 2026) designated the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) as the nodal agency to “collect, collate and analyse” the necessary information.
Iran-Israel Update March 19, 2026
The gazette notice requires producers and refiners to provide the PPAC with, among other things, information relating to “the production, importation, exportation, inventory, storage, allocation, transportation, consumption, delivery and use of petroleum products or natural gas, aggregated or disaggregated by geographic location, time or consumers as may be specified.”
Speaking to reporters at a daily inter-ministerial briefing on Thursday afternoon (March 19, 2026), Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), elaborated that the aim was to give “legal force” to the pre-existing PPAC mandate. “Now everyone has to provide the (necessary) information and with legal force it would be more feasible,” she said.
Over 5,600 consumers have switched to PNG in the last 3 days
A senior government official informed that more than 5,600 consumers have been switched to Piped Natural Gas (PNG) in the last three days. It is significant to note that the government is trying to encourage a switch of LPG consumers to PNG to de-escalate pressure on the form as it finds itself in uncertainty over supply amid escalating tensions in West Asia.
Ms. Sharma further informed in the last two weeks that around 1.25 million new connections have been provided in the last two weeks. This includes home, business and industrial connections.
A tanker carrying Russian crude is expected to reach Mangalore on March 21
Rajesh Kumar Sinha, Special Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways confirmed that the oil tanker Aqua Titan, carrying Russian crude, is scheduled to arrive at New Mangalore port on March 21. “A tanker named Aqua Titan has been chartered by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) and is expected to arrive at New Mangalore Port March.
Published – 19 March 2026 22:27 IST
