New Delhi, April 4 -- The Centre continues to take necessary steps to ensure preparedness and smooth functioning across key sectors in view of the West Asia crisis, with 3700 raids conducted across the country to wipe out LPG black marketing, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said in a release on Saturday.

It said the government is taking proactive steps to ensure the uninterrupted availability of petroleum products and LPG across the country, in the context of the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

It said that officials of the Public Sector Undertaking Oil Marketing Companies (PSU OMCs) in India have been directed to strengthen the system of surprise inspection to deter any instance of hoardings/black marketing. PSU OMCs...