PM Narendra Modi chairs CCS meet to review West Asia conflict impact

PM Modi reviews measures across energy, agriculture and logistics sectors to mitigate the impact of the West Asia conflict and ensure supply stability

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday evening chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) that reviewed the government’s interventions across agriculture, fertilisers, shipping, aviation, logistics, and MSME sectors to mitigate emerging challenges in the context of the conflict in West Asia.

 

The meeting reviewed current and future initiatives that ministries and departments are taking to address the challenges the conflict in West Asia has created since it broke out a month back. This was the second special CCS meeting on this issue.

 

Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan briefed the CCS meeting on the actions taken to ensure the supply of petroleum products, particularly LNG and LPG, and sufficient power availability. Sources are being diversified for procurement of LPG, with new inflows from different countries. Similarly, he told the meeting that liquefied natural gas (LNG) is being sourced from different countries. The Cabinet Secretary also briefed the meeting that LPG prices for domestic consumers remain unchanged and that anti-diversion enforcement to curb hoarding and black marketing of LPG is being conducted regularly.

 

 

Initiatives have also been taken to expand piped natural gas connections. Measures such as exempting gas-based power plants with a capacity of 7–8 GW from the gas pooling mechanism and increasing rake positioning for more coal at thermal power stations have also been taken to ensure power availability during the peak summer months, the Cabinet Secretary said at the meeting, according to a government statement. The meeting also discussed proposed interventions for emerging agricultural challenges, including augmenting urea production and coordinating with overseas suppliers of fertilisers. Civil aviation, shipping, and logistics sectors were also discussed.

 

The government statement said that retail food commodity prices have been stable over the past month. Control rooms have been set up for constant monitoring and interaction with states and Union Territories on prices and enforcement of the Essential Commodities Act. The prices of agricultural products, vegetables, and fruits are also being monitored, it said.

 

Efforts to globally diversify India’s sources for energy, fertilisers, and other supply chains, and international initiatives for securing safe passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, along with ongoing diplomatic efforts, are being taken, the government said.

 

Enhanced coordination, real-time communication, and proactive measures across central, state, and district levels to drive effective information dissemination and public awareness amid the evolving crisis are being undertaken, it said.

 

The Prime Minister assessed the availability of critical needs for the common man. He discussed the availability of fertilisers in the country and steps being taken to ensure supply during the kharif and rabi seasons. He said that all efforts must be made to safeguard citizens from the impact of this conflict. The Prime Minister also emphasised the smooth flow of authentic information to the public to prevent misinformation and rumour-mongering.