Commercial and domestic liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders are seeing a supply disruption in India, with crucial trade through in the Strait of Hormuz at an effective halt due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
India depends on imports to meet around 60% of domestic LPG needs, and 90% of these imports come via the Middle East, through the Strait of Hormuz.
As a result, prices of both domestic and commercial LPG cylinders have been hiked in India, with the revision affecting both households and businesses which are reliant on cooking gas.
Prices of 14.2-kg domestic LPG cylinders were raised by ₹60 last week, while prices of 19-kg commercial LPG cylinders were hiked by 114.5.
Price of domestic and commercial LPG in key Indian cities — full list
Below is the list of prices for domestic and commercial LPG cylinders across major Indian cities.
Prices for LPG cylinders under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, which covers over 10 crore connections provided to low-income households, remain unchanged, as per a report by PTI.
Disruptions across major cities
Over the past several days, disruptions, particularly in the hospitality sector, have been reported across major cities including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Kolkata.
Amid the shortage, many eateries stopped serving meat dishes, as non-vegetarian food requires longer cooking times and higher fuel consumption. Other restaurants, meanwhile, shut altogether.
Panic buying among consumers has also spiked, jumping nearly 60% on Friday.
Steps being taken to address supply disruptions
The government began distributing commercial LPG to states and UTs on Saturday, a top official from the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said.
"After extensive discussions, the government has decided that commercial consumers will also get LPG. Commercial cylinder distribution has been started in various states and consumers have started receiving them," Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary of the ministry told media.
Further, the government on Saturday also asked households with both piped natural gas (PNG) connections and LPG subscriptions to give up the latter and refrain from cylinder refills from any public oil company or its distributors.
Meanwhile, two India-flagged LPG tankers have transited safely through the Strait of Hormuz and are en route, and their arrival is expected to ease some pressure.
