New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday downplayed the energy crisis arising in the country due to the ongoing conflict between the joint forces of the United States and Israel with Iran. Addressing the NXT summit, the Prime Minister indirectly hit out at those who are “trying to create panic” and claimed that, by doing so, they are exposing themselves to the public.PM Modi said, “We have to make collective efforts while keeping the national interest paramount and fulfilling our duties. Nowadays there is a lot of discussion about LPG. There are some people who are trying to create panic. They want to push their agenda.” He said, “At this time I do not want to make political comments on them. But I must say that by doing this they are not only exposing themselves to the public but are also causing great harm to the country.”The Prime Minister said the government has given priority to self-reliance in the energy sector to ensure that the country does not have to depend solely on foreign sources for energy.PM Modi said, “To ensure that we do not have to depend solely on foreign sources for energy, emphasis was laid on self-reliance in the energy sector. Till 2014, there were only 14 crore LPG connections in the country. Today, there are more than double that i.e. 33 crore domestic LPG connections. In 2014, there were only 4 LNG terminals in the country.”He said, “Today their number has also doubled. No country is untouched by the impact of this global crisis. Everyone is a victim of this crisis to a greater or lesser extent. India is also leaving no stone unturned to deal with this crisis.”The Prime Minister also said that the government is making every effort to ensure that the burden of conditions arising from war does not fall on the citizens of India.He said, “The Government of India has always made every possible effort to ensure that the burden of conditions arising from war does not fall on the citizens of India.”He said, “This time too we will make every possible effort to ensure that the war has minimal impact on the lives of the country’s farmers and citizens of the country.”Fears of LPG shortage began to spread across the country as the global energy supply chain was disrupted due to the escalating conflict in the Middle East.The closure of the Strait of Hormuz following Iranian retaliation against the US-Israeli strikes has triggered panic buying, led to long queues at LPG agencies and petrol pumps and forced restaurants and small businesses to switch to alternative cooking methods.Sujata Sharma, joint secretary in the oil ministry, said some measures have helped in increasing domestic LPG production by 28 per cent and with some alternative sources being used abroad, the government has decided to allow some sales of commercial LPG to meet one-fifth of the demand.“State governments will have to identify the beneficiaries,” he said.As panic buying continues to rise, the government has extended the LPG refill ordering window for rural users to 45 days, up from 25 days set for all users last week, replacing the previous 21-day limit. He said the move is aimed at managing demand and ensuring equitable distribution amid the ongoing energy supply disruptions due to the West Asia crisis.The increase in the monthly quota of kerosene released to states is the first in more than a decade and temporarily reverses the government’s stated objective of phasing out the fuel, which was also used for adulteration of petrol, apart from being heavily subsidized.