Fadnavis frowns on speculative LPG cylinder 'shortage' reports; 'not in interest of country'

Nagpur, Mar 7 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said news reports on the potential shortage of LPG cylinders amid the West Asia conflict are speculative and not in the interest of the country.

He appealed to the media to refrain from speculative reporting, stressing that the Centre is looking into the situation.

Responding to a query regarding news reports about the potential shortage of LPG cylinders, Fadnavis appealed to the media not to create panic or fear among the citizens without any reason.

"Showing speculative reports and discussing hypothetical scenarios leads to panic and confusion, which is not in the interest of the country and society. The Central government has clearly stated this yesterday," he added.

Queried on the timeline for the implementation of a loan waiver announced by him in the Budget 2026-27, Fadnavis said some people are trying to create confusion by claiming that the crop loan write-off won't be implemented by nationalised banks, district banks, or certain credit societies.

"We will grant a loan waiver upto Rs 2 lakh on any bank which extends crop loans. We want to ensure that farmers benefit through this initiative, not banks. We have already announced that the loan waiver will be implemented before June 30.

"This waiver will be better than the previous such measures," he added.

Notably, the prices of domestic LPG and commercial cylinders were hiked by a steep Rs 60 and Rs 114.5, respectively, amid rising energy costs linked to the West Asia conflict.

Industry officials said the increase follows a steep rise in global energy prices since the breakout of military conflict in West Asia. PTI CLS NSK