ThePrint CutTheClutter: India’s LPG ‘crisis’ as Iran war escalates: Where our imports come from,concerns & what’s govt doing
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Mar 13, 2026 Udit Bubna, a journalist who covers energy and petroleum with data-driven reporting. He maps where India sources LPG and crude, explains shifts toward Russia, the US and Africa, and outlines government steps to prioritize household cylinders and curb panic. Multiple short takes on supply routes, booking spikes and measures to steady supplies.
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High Household Use Makes LPG Politically Sensitive
- India is the world's second largest LPG consumer at ~31.5 million tonnes annually after China.
- Decade-long subsidy push expanded household LPG use, raising vulnerability to import shocks that directly affect voters.
Hormuz Route Dominates India's LPG Imports
- 80–90% of India's imported LPG passes through the Strait of Hormuz, so its closure sharply strains supply channels.
- Household impact arrives before fertilizer or industrial pain, driving visible panic among consumers and restaurants.
Panic Buying Drove Cylinder Bookings Spike
- Panic buying explains the jump from ~55–60 lakh daily cylinder bookings to 75–80 lakh recently.
- Shekhar Gupta links this to ingrained scarcity mentality from past shortages and COVID-era hoarding behaviour.