CHENNAI: A day after the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas issued a statement on social media saying that LPG supply to domestic and essential non-domestic sectors is being prioritised due to fuel supply constraints, Indian Premier League Governing Council Chairperson Arun Dhumal said the league is monitoring the evolving situation closely.
With the US-Israel-Iran war in West Asia continuing to escalate, the supply of petroleum and LPG products has taken a hit. Over the last couple of days, hotel owner associations in both Bengaluru and Chennai have said they have LPG supply for a day or two. Several hotels have already started to restrict the menu to optimise the usage of LPG.
While there is no sense of panic among stakeholders at the moment, IPL GC Chairperson Dhumal said that the league is keeping a close eye on the developing situation. "We are reviewing the development. Since this is a evolving situation, nothing can be said as of now. But given the requirement of the situation, we will take a call accordingly," Dhumal told this daily.
Though the schedule is yet to be announced, the board is working out the nitty-gritty details to avoid clashing with the election in several states, with the tournament set to start on March 28. The BCCI is expected to announce the schedule in two phases with the first one likely to run till April 20. However, if the ongoing crisis continues to worsen in the next two weeks, leading to restrictions on travel and hotel because of fuel (petrol and diesel has not been an issue so far) and gas shortage it may become a cause for concern.
Then, the BCCI and IPL may have to make a call as it will affect not just the league but people from all walks of life, including industries, hospitals and educational institutions. That is what happened during the Covid pandemic. The 2020 season was postponed and eventually held in UAE, 2021 happened in a bio-bubble before stopping midway due to covid cases. The second half of the tournament happened in UAE. In 2022, the league was restricted to just four cities — Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad and Kolkata — keeping travel to as minimal as possible. The coming days and weeks will paint a clearer picture on what lies ahead.
Meanwhile, several franchises have already started their camps in their respective cities for the upcoming season. Chennai Super Kings camp has been going on for a few days with around 10 players training every day in their high performance centre. Punjab Kings have been camping in Dharamsala for the last few days with around 10 players taking part. Gujarat Titans, too, began their pre-season camp last month in Nathdwara.
Apart from the LPG and petroleum products supply, logistics will also be a challenge as it was seen during the recently concluded T20 World Cup, which India won. Several teams, including Zimbabwe, West Indies and South Africa, could not leave India immediately because of the ongoing war in West Asia and the flight routes to their respective countries.
Earlier on Monday, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas issued orders to oil refineries for higher LPG production and using such extra production for domestic LPG use. "The ministry has prioritised domestic LPG supply to households and introduced 25 day inter- booking period to avoid hoarding/black marketing. Non domestic supplies from imported LPG is being prioritised to essential non domestic sectors such as Hospitals and Educational institutions. For LPG supply to other non-domestic sectors, a committee of three EDs of OMCs have been constituted to review the representations for LPG supply to restaurants/hotels/other industries," Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas stated on Monday night.