New Delhi: The central government Friday admitted that LPG supply is an ‘issue of concern’ as a significant portion of India’s LPG imports passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been closed for 14 days amid the ongoing Israel-US and Iran conflict.
However, government officials assured that on the crude oil and LNG front there is ‘no shortage’ of supplies in the country.
Addressing an inter-ministerial briefing on India’s energy situation, officials said the situation remains under control but flagged ‘panic booking’ behaviour among consumers in LPG bookings.
“The data shows that average daily LPG booking is around 50-55 lakhs but in last few days the bookings have increased to 70-75 lakhs,” said Sujata Sharma, joint secretary at the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
“This is more of a panic booking pattern,” she said. “We were distributing 50 lakh cylinders before the conflict and even today we are distributing the same number.”
▪️ As far as crude oil is concerned, we have 258 million metric tonnes of refining capacity. We are self sufficient in the production of petrol and diesel, therefore there is no need to import the same into the country
▪️ All our refineries are operational at a capacity of 100%… pic.twitter.com/piPFch36tw
— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 13, 2026
Despite the concern, the official said none of the country’s 25,605 LPG distributors has reported any shortage so far.
Sharma said domestic LPG production has been increased by 30 percent since 5 March, and uninterrupted supply is being ensured for priority users such as domestic households, hospitals and schools.
To ease pressure on LPG supplies, Sharma urged nearly 60 lakh households living in areas with piped natural gas (PNG) connectivity to shift to piped gas.
She also appealed to urban commercial users to opt for PNG connections through their nearest city gas distribution (CGD) dealer.
On the perceived shortage of supply for commercial LPG cylinders, Sharma said, “Commercial cylinders have been put at the disposal of state government for priority distribution.”
The central government has also initiated steps to curb illegal practices such as black marketing and hoarding of LPG cylinders, Sharma said, adding, “States are being advised to take action against black marketing and hoarding and ensure such incidents do not happen.”
On alternative fuels, the official said coal is now being made available to small hotels and restaurants following directions from the coal ministry.
The briefing, attended by senior officials from the ministries of petroleum, shipping, external affairs and information and broadcasting, outlined the current situation arising from the West Asia conflict and the measures being taken to safeguard India’s energy interests.
Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary at the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, confirmed that one Indian-flagged vessel—Jag Prakash tanker—has moved out from the eastern side of the Strait of Hormuz and is currently transporting gasoline to Africa.
The tanker was among four vessels that had remained stuck on the eastern side of the Strait of Hormuz until Thursday. Meanwhile, 24 Indian-flagged vessels carrying 677 seafarers continue to remain stranded on the western side of the Hormuz passage.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: Closure of over 200 hotels & eateries in Chennai fuels DMK attacks on BJP for ‘cylinder shortage’