The West Asia conflict is giving sleepless nights to industrialists as they stare at losses worth crores due to irregular supply of piped natural gas (PNG).With 200 rolling mills at Punjab’s steel hub, Mandi Gobindgarh, grappling with reduced PNG supply and rising fuel costs, several units are on the verge of closure.Industrialists said geopolitical tensions in the Gulf region had disrupted global oil and gas supply chains, directly affecting PNG availability for industries that were directed to switch to gas-based fuel by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).They said around 160 units in the region had initially converted their furnaces to gas-based systems after the regulatory shift almost two years ago. However, rising gas prices have forced around 35 units to shut down.Owners of several units claimed that applications for new PNG connections had been declined on the grounds of insufficient gas availability.Nitish Juyal, Assistant Manager (Marketing) PNG supplier IRM Energy, which caters to industrial units in the Mandi Gobindgarh region, said “around 20 per cent reduction has been made in supply” in line with “directions issued by the Government of India” on March 9.However, industry representatives claimed that the ground situation was far more severe.Vinod Vashisht, chief of the All India Steel Re-Rollers Association, alleged that units were facing up to 50 per cent supply cuts. He said the earlier provision allowing an additional 20 per cent consumption had been withdrawn, effectively reducing the available gas for some units by nearly 70 per cent.Vashisht further alleged that the price of PNG had been increased by Rs 6 per standard cubic metre (SCM) from March 10, with an additional surcharge of Rs 5 per SCM being levied, pushing the effective rate to around Rs 49.50 per SCM.Another industrialist Jagmohan Datta, said, “The reduced supply and rising fuel cost have led to the hike in production cost. A mill which earlier received around 5,000 SCM of PNG daily was now getting barely 2,500 SCM, forcing several units to cut production. The cost of raw material has also increased by nearly Rs 1,000 per metric ton making operations increasingly unsustainable for many small and medium units.”Clarify position on shortage of gas: Warring to AAP govtChandigarh: Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Thursday sought clarification from the Punjab Government on the issue of shortage of gas.He said other than commercial operators, even domestic consumers were facing difficulty in getting cylinders.The PCC president questioned the silence of the Punjab Government on such a critical matter. Warring said he had been receiving phone calls from the harassed consumers that domestic bookings had been suspended.“We are staring at a serious problem, but the AAP government seems to be completely unmindful,” he added. — TNS