New Delhi, May 11 -- India utilised repatriation flights to export and import nearly 200,000 tonne of goods at the peak of the West Asia conflict, along with tight administrative measures, to tide over immediate shortages and prevent a rapid surge in prices, people aware of the matter said, requesting anonymity. Shortages still were unavoidable as seaborne trade all but halted. Interministerial committees formed to deal with the crisis focussed on essential items, their main mandate. These panels took a "whole-of-government" approach to containing inflation and included the petroleum and consumer affairs ministries, a person said. One of the panels, tasked with preventing rapid price pressures, coordinated to ensure just the availability of packaging materials, such as poly pouches for milk, which itself is a petroleum-derived product. "Without these materials, there could have been widespread milk shortages," one person said. The price-management committee held meetings with manufacturers and milk producers to estimate availability and demand on a weekly basis. Scarce gas, a key feedstock for several industries, were divided up accordingly, prioritising essentials, a second person said. By March 25, the government used well over 2,000 special and scheduled flights repatriating Indians out of the Gulf to ship commodities, especially perishable produce, out of India as seaborne trade all but halted due to Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz. "Fruits such as grapes and vegetables destined for West Asian countries were stranded. Nearly 100,000 tonnes were exported on these flights, taking advantage of the fact that many of these would have returned empty," the first person said. A limited number of flights first resumed operations from March 3, 2026....