2 months ago
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Story truthful far: In the aftermath of the lipid situation triggered by the Israel-U.S. strikes connected Iran, Centre has invoked the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, on Friday (March 5, 2026), ordering all oil refining companies to maximise accumulation of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) and make it available to home consumers only.
Naming public Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) — IndianOil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum, which proviso state to 99% of home households successful India, the Centre’s order highlights the ‘need to prioritise the utilisation of Propane and Butane streams for LPG production’ to maintain adequate gas availability. The bid prohibits the companies from utilizing propane oregon butane streams for manufacturing different petrochemical products and orders the OMCs to proviso solely to home consumers.
The bid invokes clauses 3 and 5 of the Essential Commodities Act which empowers the Centre to modulate accumulation levels of Oil refining companies and set supply limits for OMCs. The bid is successful unit with contiguous effect and will remain so until further orders.
The Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (ESA) has been a instrumentality utilized by the authorities done the years to offset rising nutrient prices, prevent hoarding and maintain food security.
In 2020, Parliament amended the Act to bounds the Centre’s powers to regulate cereals, pulses, potato, onions, edible oilseeds and oils only under bonzer circumstances specified arsenic war, famine, bonzer price rise and earthy calamity of sedate nature. It besides stipulated regulating banal bounds of immoderate cultivation nutrient lone successful lawsuit of a 100% emergence in retail terms of horticultural nutrient oregon 50% summation successful retail terms of non-perishable cultivation foodstuffs.
However, the Centre has invoked the ESA five times since then, imposing banal limits on cereals and wheat, sugar exports, citing the request to rein successful nutrient prices and maintain domestic needs.
When did the government last invoke ESA?
Six months ago, the Centre invoked the ESA on August 26, 2025, to reduce wheat banal limits for traders/ wholesalers from 3,000 metric tonne (MT) to 2,000 MT and for retailers the bounds was reduced from 10 MT to 8 MT. It also imposed a bounds connected processors astatine 60% of Monthly Installed Capacity (MIC), reduced from 70% MIC. The limits volition stay until March 31, 2026, and is portion of the Centre’s “continuous efforts to mean prices of wheat earlier festive season”. Both Deepavali and Bihar Assembly elections were slated for October and November respectively.
Previous instances
April 2020: In the aftermath of a nationalist lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19, the Centre invoked the ESA and urged States to bash the aforesaid to guarantee availability of indispensable goods to citizens astatine just prices and debar hoarding. With the nonaccomplishment of production mainly owed to reduced labour supply, Centre and State governments imposed stock limits, capped prices, enhance production to guarantee nary achromatic marketing occurred.
September 2020: As the country opened up after the lockdown, Parliament passed an amendment to the ESA to kickstart the economy. Deregulating banal limits on cereals, pulses, potato, onions, edible oilseeds and oils, Parliament imposed the above-mentioned conditions for imposing ESA.
May 2022: Capping sweetener exports astatine 10 million tonnes till September that year, the Directorate of General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued an bid to maintain the home availability and terms stability. Centre claimed that the bid had been taken arsenic sweetener exports successful 2020-21 touched a grounds precocious of 7 million tonnes, compared to 5.96 cardinal tonnes successful 2019-20.
August 2022: Hours earlier the retail ostentation numbers for July was released, the Centre invoked the ESA, asking States to monitor and verify the stocks of tur dal disposable with traders. Tur Dal prices had been rising s ince mid-July amid dilatory advancement successful kharif sowing arsenic compared to past twelvemonth owed to excess rainfalls and h2o logging conditions successful parts of large tur dal increasing States of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, noted the Department of Consumer Affairs. Inflation had been maintained over 7% since April 2022.
September 2023: Fearing atom successful wheat prices, Centre reduced banal limits from 3,000 MT to 2,000 MT for traders, wholesalers, retailers, large concatenation retailers and processors successful each States and Union Territories. Blaming ‘artificial scarcity’ created by hoarders, the Centre asked each wheat-stocking entities to registry connected the wheat banal bounds portal, update the banal presumption each week and trim it if it exceeded the limit.
December 2023: Wheat banal limits were reduced further to 1,000 MT for traders and wholesalers arsenic prices of wheat and wheat flour (atta) remained unchanged successful galore parts of the country. Retailers’ banal limits were reduced from 10 MT to 5 MT astatine outlets and processors’ bounds was reduced from 75% to 70% MIC. Centre cited wide nutrient information arsenic the crushed for invoking ESA.
