look news india
New Delhi/Mumbai: The heat of the fierce military conflict that broke out between Iran, Israel and America in West Asia has now reached Indian kitchens. Due to disruption in gas supply from Gulf countries, a serious LPG crisis has arisen in many big cities of the country. The situation has worsened to such an extent that long queues of consumers are seen outside gas agencies in metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru. Cylinders are not being delivered even after 8 to 10 days of booking. To deal with this emergency, the Central Government has adopted a tough stance and implemented ‘Essential Commodity Act, 1955’ (ECA) across the country and has made major changes in the booking rules.
The pace of supply slowed down due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
India imports most of its LPG requirement from countries like Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman. Due to Iran’s ban on the ‘Strait of Hormuz’, the path of gas tankers coming by sea has been stopped. The effect of breaking the supply chain was that hotels and dhabas were locked in many parts of the country. The government has made it clear that until the international situation returns to normal, it is mandatory to control the supply. In this sequence, the government has now extended the deadline for booking domestic LPG cylinders from 21 days to 25 days, so that hoarding can be stopped.
What is the Essential Commodity Act and how will the distribution change?
After the implementation of the Essential Commodities Act (ECA), the government now has the legal authority to completely control the storage, distribution and prices of gas. Under this law, the government has divided gas supply into four main categories. Domestic consumers, PNG and CNG have been kept in the first priority, to whom complete supply will be given. In the second category, fertilizer factories will get 70% gas. The third category will include large industries and tea factories connected to the National Grid, while the fourth and last category will include small factories and hotels, to which the remaining gas will be provided last.
Kitchen becomes expensive: Prices of domestic and commercial cylinders increase
Amidst the supply crisis, the common man has been hit twice by inflation. For the first time after April 2025, the government has increased the prices of domestic LPG. The price of 14.2 kg domestic cylinder has been increased by ₹ 60. At the same time, the price of 19 kg cylinder for commercial use has been increased by a huge increase of ₹ 115. Officials say that due to rising costs and limited availability in the international market, there has been a compulsion to increase the prices. Oil refineries have also been ordered to give priority to LPG production instead of industrial operations.
Now cylinder will not be available without OTP and biometric
To root out black marketing and illegal trade of gas, the government has made the delivery process high-tech. Now delivery agents will not be able to deliver cylinders without OTP or biometric verification. Delivery will be considered successful only after sharing the OTP received on the consumer’s registered mobile number. Along with this, the government has formed a high-level monitoring committee of experts from three major oil companies, which will submit moment-to-moment reports of gas stock and distribution in every district to the government.
Concern of 33 crore consumers, appeal of government
There are currently 33.2 crore gas consumers in India, whose annual consumption is about 33.15 metric tonnes. Meeting the needs of such a large population is no less than a challenge for the government. Officials of the Civil Aviation and Energy Ministry are in constant touch with the Gulf countries so that gas consignments can be procured through alternative routes. The government has appealed to the general public not to resort to ‘panic buying’ i.e. accumulating extra cylinders. The government claims that sufficient stock has been reserved for essential services and the situation will be under control soon.