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Informist, Sunday, Mar. 15, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The government has mandated that consumers with piped natural gas connections will neither be allowed to obtain a new liquefied petroleum gas connection nor retain an existing additional connection in order to manage the shortage in availability of the widely used cooking fuel. The government has also barred them from obtaining any refill of their LPG cylinders. Individuals having both LPG and natural gas connections at present must "immediately surrender their domestic LPG connection," according to an order issued by the oil ministry Saturday.

 

The order comes amid the disruption in imports of cooking gas due to closure of the Strait of Hormuz. LPG remains the primary cooking fuel for millions of households, and any disruption quickly affects its availability. India imports about 60% of its overall cooking gas requirements. Of this, around 90% is routed through the Strait of Hormuz.

 

India faces supply constraints after Israel and the US launched joint military strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, prompting Tehran to hit back at the Jewish state and at US military installations around the Persian Gulf. Iran also shut the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that connects the Gulf to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, resulting in a sharp rise in crude oil and natural gas prices.

 

A fifth of global crude oil supply flows through the Strait of Hormuz. About half of India's crude oil imports – primarily from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait – also pass through the strait, making the country particularly vulnerable to shipping bottlenecks there and to surging freight and insurance rates.

 

The government issued the fresh orders as supply constraints persist along with nationwide panic-booking, despite the earlier measures taken by the government to manage both. Social media and news reports continue to show citizens crowding offices of LPG distributors to book cylinders, even though the government repeatedly urged them to avoid panic-booking and black marketing. 

 

Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri Thursday said that field reports indicate hoarding and panic booking at the distributor and retail levels, driven by consumer anxiety rather than any actual supply shortage. "The rush-booking pressure in some localities reflects a demand distortion, not a production or supply failure," he had said.

 

To mitigate the cooking gas crunch, the government has also allocated an additional 48,000 kilolitres of kerosene for both domestic and commercial use. It has also taken various measures to boost LPG production, including asking oil marketing companies to use propane and butane solely for LPG production and restricting petrochemical production. The government also asked oil refineries to operate at full capacity, and some are operating at over 100%.

 

In a release Sunday, the government said there were no reported dry-outs at LPG distributorships and LPG bookings have shown a decline, with about 770,000 bookings recorded Saturday compared to 888,000 bookings on Friday. State governments are undertaking enforcement measures to prevent hoarding and black marketing of petrol, diesel and LPG. Raids are being carried out in several states, including Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, to check hoarding and black marketing of LPG cylinders, the government said. Officials of state-owned oil marketing companies are also conducting surprise inspections at LPG distributorships to ensure smooth supply and prevent irregularities.

 

"Citizens are encouraged to opt for alternate fuels such as PNG wherever possible," the release said. "Consumers are requested to avoid panic bookings, use digital booking platforms and avoid unnecessary visits to LPG distributors."

 

On the availability of petrol and diesel, the government said that no cases of fuel dry-outs have been reported at retail outlets by oil marketing companies, and supplies of petrol and diesel continue to be maintained regularly. "Citizens are advised not to resort to panic buying as adequate stocks of petrol and diesel are available across the country," it said.

 

All refineries are also operating at high capacity and maintaining adequate crude oil inventories. India remains self-sufficient in the production of petrol and diesel and no imports of these are required to meet domestic demand, according to the government.

 

The release also said Indian-flag vessel Jag Laadki sailed safely from Fujairah at 1030 IST on Sunday carrying about 80,800 tonnes of Murban crude oil and is bound for India. Two Indian-flag LPG carriers, Shivalik and Nanda Devi, carrying about 92,712 tonnes of LPG, which had crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, are currently on passage to India and are scheduled to reach Mundra Port on Monday and Kandla Port on Tuesday, respectively.  End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Priyasmita Dutta

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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