As the conflict in West Asia rages on completely skewing India’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports, the government’s emergency measures seem to be bearing some fruits as domestic production of the critical cooking fuel is now around 50-60 per cent of demand, compared to roughly 40 per cent before February 28, 2026—the day when the latest US-Israel offensive on Iran started.
Parallelly, two very large gas carriers (VLGCs) with roughly 92,613 tonnes of LPG transited the Strait of Hormuz (SoH) on Monday evening towards India. By March-end, India is likely to have received a total of around 2.5-2.75 lakh tonnes of LPG. Besides, seven VLGCs with an expected 3.22 lakh tonnes are idling in the Persian Gulf awaiting transit via the strait.
Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) Joint Secretary Sujata Sharma during the briefing on West Asia on Monday said that LPG supply continues to be monitored in view of the prevailing geopolitical situation.
However, no dry-outs have been reported at distributorships and panic bookings have reduced significantly, and domestic LPG cylinder deliveries continue as normal, she added.
Asked about the progress in LPG production, Sharma noted “I think right now, our domestic production is accounting for something between 50 to 60 per cent of our demand.”
India consumed around 33 million tonnes (mt) LPG in FY25. A back of the envelope calculation shows that India’s average daily production could be in the range of 45,200-54,200 tonnes.
Sharma informed that close to 1.9 lakh LPG consumers migrated to piped natural gas (PNG) in the last few days. Besides, more than 3.5 lakh domestic and commercial PNG connections have been activated since the latest offensive started.
Rakesh Kumar Sinha, Special Secretary at the Shipping Ministry, said that there has been no change in vessel deployment over the past 48 hours, with 22 Indian-flagged vessels and around 600 Indian seafarers currently in the western Persian Gulf region. 11 seafarers have signed off and are being repatriated as per standard procedures.
The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said that two Indian Flag LPG carriers — Jag Vasant and Pine Gas — carrying 92,612.59 tonnes have transited through the SoH on Monday today evening. These vessels have 33 and 27 Indian seafarers onboard, respectively.
These vessels are destined for India and are likely to reach ports between March 26 to March 28. They include seven VLGCs, one LNG carrier and four very large crude carriers (VLCCs).
Sharma also noted that panic booking of LPG by domestic consumers has reduced, and delivery is normal. On commercial LPG, she said that about 50 per cent volume of commercial LPG will be at the disposal of the State governments and union territories (UTs).
Twenty States and UTs have issued orders to allocate the non-domestic LPG in line with the guidelines issued by the government of India. For the rest of the States/UTs, PSU Oil Marketing companies are releasing Commercial LPG cylinders. A total of around 15,842 tonnes has been uplifted since March 14 by commercial entities in the States/UTs.
Enforcement actions continue across States to curb hoarding and black marketing. Overall, over 37,000 raids have been conducted so far with around 500 FIRs being filed and 150 arrests being made.