When demand spikes even briefly, and provide chains tighten, markets do react with seen stress. Proper now, amid the struggle in Iran, that stress is displaying up outdoors LPG businesses in a number of cities and cities, together with within the Nationwide Capital Area (NCR). Lengthy queues of customers clutching empty LPG cylinders had been on Monday seen outdoors a Bharat Gasoline company in Noida’s Sector 22. A viral video from Birdpur village in Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur district confirmed at the very least a whole bunch of individuals sitting on their empty LPG cylinders lined up outdoors a fuel company. The clip went viral on Saturday, March 7.
Whereas queues had been reported in some cities, cities and villages for LPG cylinders, a number of those that India Immediately Digital spoke to mentioned there was no real scarcity of LPG provides on the bottom. The central authorities has additionally denied claims of any LPG disaster.
Amid experiences of lengthy queues outdoors LPG businesses, authorities sources on Monday afternoon advised India Immediately that India has satisfactory provides of cooking fuel and households needn’t panic. To forestall hoarding and handle distribution, Indian refiners have imposed a 25-day ready interval for brand spanking new LPG bookings. On the identical time, officers mentioned India is actively scouting world markets to safe extra provides, exploring potential imports from international locations equivalent to Algeria, Australia, Canada and Norway to make sure uninterrupted availability.
The sense of disaster may very well be the doing of some suppliers to money in on the panic associated to experiences of provide disruptions due to the Iran struggle. An individual from a small city in Uttar Pradesh, claimed that she was compelled to purchase a home LPG cylinder on the black marketplace for Rs 1,500.
“It is Ramzan, fuel is important,” the homemaker, who did not need her title to be shared, from UP’s Pratapgarh district advised India Immediately Digital.
A cylinder supply companion of Indane Gasoline, who caters to customers in South Delhi, advised India Immediately Digital that he has seen panic shopping for “over the previous 4 to 5 days”. He confirmed there have been no LPG provide constraints.
LPG CYLINDER BOOKINGS RISE, LOCK-IN PERIOD FOR BOOKING RAISED TO 21 DAYS
The US and Israel’s struggle on Iran, as we speak in its tenth day, has triggered fears of a provide disruption. The federal government final week hiked LPG cylinder costs and tightened reordering norms. India meets practically two-thirds of its LPG demand via imports, most of which come from Gulf international locations such because the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. They’re shipped via the strategic choke level, the Strait of Hormuz.
India can be the world’s second-biggest importer of LPG, based on information company Reuters. Round 80% of India’s LPG imports move via the strategic Strait of Hormuz within the Persian Gulf.
The Instances of India on March 7, citing officers of oil advertising and marketing corporations (OMCs), reported that LPG bookings rose by about 15%-20% previously 5 to 6 days throughout elements of West Bengal, notably in Kolkata and adjoining districts.
Reacting to the spike in bookings, OMCs on Friday elevated the 15-day lock-in interval between home LPG cylinder bookings to 21 days. For these with two cylinders, the lock-in interval between two bookings has been raised to 30 days.
Amid this, officers insist there isn’t any nationwide scarcity.
Authorities and trade sources say India has enough LPG shares and strategic reserves to handle the scenario comfortably. An Inter-Ministerial Group is intently monitoring the scenario and reviewing home provide priorities to make sure uninterrupted availability.
The panic amongst customers seems to be much less about precise shortage and extra about localised bottlenecks created by non permanent reserving restrictions, distributor-level provide controls and precautionary hoarding by customers. These micro-level interventions, seen towards the backdrop of the supply of LPG cylinders on the black market and what a fuel supply agent in South Delhi advised India Immediately Digital, counsel that whereas an impression of scarcity has been created, general provides stay steady.
GROUND REPORTS FROM CITIES, TOWNS SHOW SPIKE IN LPG BOOKING
Regardless of official reassurances, scenes of panic shopping for have emerged throughout a number of states. The spectacle of lengthy queues that appeared a number of days in the past continued on Monday as effectively. Outdoors a Bharat Gasoline company in Noida on Monday morning, an individual standing amongst dozens advised India Immediately Digital that “cylinder worth had gone up by Rs 60… There’s a struggle occurring in Iran. I had booked my LPG refill 5 days in the past, nevertheless it had nonetheless not been delivered at dwelling”.
“He added that he had come to the company to seek out out what had occurred to the reserving. That is why I got here to the company myself… The push may additionally be as a result of the company was closed on Sunday. Now we’re all ready for the company to open to see what the matter is,” Narender Kumar, a resident of Noida Sector 22, mentioned.
The Indane cylinder supply companion from South Delhi mentioned that because of the Iran struggle and after the federal government elevated LPG costs on March 7, he noticed “folks making an attempt to purchase LPG cylinders on the black market”.
Nevertheless, he added that the scenario was not what the queues would possibly counsel, which is basically as a consequence of a surge in on-line and telephonic bookings. “Simply as we speak, a truck carrying 350 cylinders arrived at our company,” the LPG cylinder supply companion advised India Immediately Digital. This means that provides are nonetheless coming in, and general availability stays steady.
LONG QUEUES FOR PETROL, LPG IN UP AS PEOPLE STOCK UP
In Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district, lengthy traces fashioned at petrol pumps and LPG businesses in cities equivalent to Nighasan, Pallia and Bhira after rumours unfold about potential gasoline rationing, information company PTI reported on March 6.
Comparable queues had been reported in Hyderabad, Ranchi, Kolkata and elements of Goa, the place LPG bookings surged earlier than reserving restrictions had been launched.
The ripple results are being felt within the industrial and industrial sectors as effectively.
A Khurja-based ceramic manufacturing unit proprietor advised India Immediately Digital that industries within the hub in Uttar Pradesh depend on “HIPPO fuel cylinders, which weigh roughly 422 kg every”. The worth surge has been important for the reason that struggle. “Earlier than the struggle, the value of fuel was round Rs 69 per kg, together with GST. However on 7 March, the value elevated by Rs 6, however industries are at present receiving fuel at round Rs 94.”
He mentioned, including that the sooner reductions have been discontinued, although it’s unclear whether or not the corporate stopped them or businesses are retaining them. “The rise in price ticket is forcing industries to put orders at the very least two days prematurely,” the particular person mentioned.
Maharashtra’s largest crematorium, Pune’s Vaikunth Dham, quickly halted all gas-based cremations as a consequence of an “acute scarcity of LPG”, officers mentioned. This transfer, nevertheless, was additionally triggered by the authorities prioritising home LPG provide.
ARE DISTRIBUTOR-LEVEL BOTTLENECKS WORSENING LPG PANIC SITUATION?
Whereas there may be some reported mismatch within the general provide and demand of LPG cylinders, disruptions on the native stage, and governmental interventions, have amplified the frenzy and panic shopping for.
Restrictions had been positioned on LPG provides for each home and industrial customers on Thursday night time (March 5), and other people had been suggested to make use of the gasoline judiciously. The Hindu Newspaper on March 7 reported that single-cylinder home customers would now be allowed to make contemporary bookings solely after 21 days from the date of the final reserving, whereas these with double cylinders can ebook solely after 30 days.
Then on March 7, the value of non-subsidised home LPG cylinders was elevated by Rs 60. This took the price of a 14.2-kg cylinder to Rs 913 in Delhi, whereas industrial 19-kg cylinders noticed a Rs 115 hike.
The transfer meant to stop hoarding, nevertheless, inadvertently triggered additional panic as customers rushed to safe cylinders earlier than potential limits tightened.
Kanav, a client on Reddit, mentioned the sudden restrictions caught him off guard as he tried to ebook his common refill. “We often get a cylinder round each 15-20 days… I final bought my cylinder on February 20 and earlier than that on February 2… By no means confronted any points earlier,” he mentioned. He added that when he tried to ebook a refill as his present cylinder was about to expire, he was met with a system message blocking the order. “By no means earlier than did I ever obtain this message, so what are my choices now?” he requested.
Some LPG distributors, as evident from the account of a South Delhi LPG supply agent and the Pratapgarh homemaker who mentioned she was compelled to pay Rs 1,500 for a cylinder on the black market, counsel that non permanent rationing of provides to stop bulk shopping for has additionally contributed to seen panic. The scenario, they point out, seems much less like an actual scarcity and extra like micro-level disruptions the place some miscreants had been making an attempt to profiteer throughout a disaster.
The truth that some customers have begun reserving extra LPG cylinders in anticipation of shortages, has additionally aggravated the scenario. However is that indicative of an LPG cylinder shortage in India?
ARE LONG QUEUES FOR LPG CYLINDERS RESULT OF ACTUAL GAS SHORTAGE?
Regardless of the visuals of queues outdoors LPG businesses, authorities officers have maintained that there isn’t any systemic scarcity of LPG in India.
Authorities sources advised The Hindu newspaper on March 3 that India had sufficient LPG shares and strategic reserves to cowl 25 to 30 days of demand, with refineries growing manufacturing to offset any non permanent import disruptions.
Vitality analyst Chetan Bhutani advised India Immediately TV that “strategic reserves can assist LPG demand for about 15 to twenty scorching days, if wanted, whereas crude oil reserves are estimated to final about 40 to 45 days within the occasion of provide disturbances”.
Days later, on March 6, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri mentioned there was no scarcity of vitality in India and there was no trigger for fear about its vitality customers. “Our precedence is to make sure the supply of reasonably priced and sustainable gasoline for our residents, and we’re doing it comfortably. There isn’t a scarcity of vitality in India and there’s no trigger for fear about our vitality customers,” the Minister posted on X.
Furthermore, the Centre directed all LPG refineries to extend manufacturing to make sure satisfactory availability throughout the nation. Officers mentioned India remained in a cushty place concerning LPG shares, information company ANI reported on March 6.
A supply advised the information company that LPG from the US began coming to India since January. Indian public sector oil corporations in November 2025 had signed a one-year contract to import round 2.2 MTPA of LPG from the US Gulf Coast for the contract 12 months 2026, reported ANI.
So, the queues are largely the results of panic bookings quite than a collapse in provide. Customers dashing to refill cylinders concurrently have made the distribution system seem overwhelmed. And the chokehold by LPG businesses, as reported in some pockets, has added to the panic shopping for of LPG cylinders and a few of them going into black markets. The queues outdoors LPG businesses would possibly sign anxiousness out there, however they don’t but replicate a nationwide scarcity.
– Ends
(With inputs from Chetan Bhutani, Kabool Ahmad and Meenal Sharma)
