PATNA: Bihar Food and Consumer Protection Department Minister Leshi Singh on Wednesday asserted that domestic LPG cylinders are being delivered at doorsteps within three to four days of booking, despite the global energy crisis arising out of the ongoing Gulf war.
Making an appeal to consumers not to unnecessarily gather around gas agencies, Singh said, “Though, initially there were shortage of LPG cylinders due to global energy crisis and people panicked and gathered around gas agencies. But despite this, gas cylinders are being made available as per the demand for domestic use. Cylinders are being delivered within three four days of booking.”
The minister, who was accompanied by the department’s Secretary Abhay Kumar Singh, was addressing a press conference on Wednesday to highlight the department’s achievements over the past year.
“Initially, there was short supply of cylinders following the outbreak of war but the shortage was not severe that it may affect day-to-day life,” the minister said, adding that “we held meetings with Oil Marketing Companies and asked them to ensure delivery of cylinders in a transparent manner.”
Following the launch of a state-wide drive against black marketing, hoarding and commercial use of domestic gas cylinders across the state, 114 FIRs have been registered and 1,662 gas cylinders have been seized after inspections of gas agencies and their respective godowns, she added.
As far as commercial gas cylinders are concerned, it was initially stopped as the government’s priority was to cater to the requirements of domestic cylinders, Singh said, adding that now around 60 per cent of commercial gas cylinders are being made available on a priority basis to hostels, hospitals, hotels and for industrial use.
With a view to redressing people’s complaints and grievances relating to LPG cylinders, the minister said that a state-level control room has been established in Patna.
It functions between 7 am and 9 pm, and people can call the control room number 0612-2233050 to lodge their complaints.
“Around 450 complaints used to come in one day on the control room number, but now the number of complaints has reduced to 150 in a day, which shows that the pressure has eased off to an extent,” she said.
The minister urged consumers to imbibe and accept PNG as it is a bit cheaper and hassle-free. Oil Marketing Companies have been asked to augment their capacity to provide PNG connections to people on demand, she said, adding that six Oil Marketing Companies have been authorised for distribution of PNG and CNG in all the 38 districts of the state under the “Bihar City Gas Distribution Policy 2025.”
PNG gas connections have been provided to 99,346 households so far, and 55,025 households are set to receive connections, the minister said, adding that the pace of providing PNG connections, which was 3,000–5,000 per month over the past year, increased to 8,000 per month in March 2026.