Cooking gas consumption in the first fortnight of March fell 17.3% from the year-ago period and 26.3% from the same period last month, reflecting a demand slowdown amid supply disruptions linked to the ongoing conflict in West Asia.
Government officials said the domestic LPG supply situation remains under close watch even as distribution continues without interruption.
“India’s LPG situation remains a concern amid the West Asia conflict, even as domestic supplies stay stable and no distributor has reported a dryout,” said Sujata Sharma, joint secretary (marketing & oil refinery), ministry of petroleum and natural gas, during an inter-ministerial briefing.
What did government executive say?
Officials said panic booking of cooking gas cylinders had added pressure to the supply system. LPG bookings had surged to over 8.8 million cylinders on March 13 before easing. “On Monday it came down to about 7 million bookings, against the pre-war levels of around 5 million bookings,” Sharma said.
To maintain supply stability, the government has stepped up domestic production and tightened monitoring of the distribution system. “Domestic LPG production from refineries has been increased by about 38%. Online LPG bookings have increased to about 94%, while delivery authentication code coverage has expanded from 53% before the crisis to about 76% to prevent diversion,” Sharma said.
According to preliminary data, cooking gas consumption fell to 1.147 million tonne in the first fortnight of March, compared with 1.387 million tonne in the same period last year and 1.557 million tonne in the first half of February.
300,000 tonne of LPG stuck in Hormuz
Shipping disruptions in the Gulf have slowed cargo movement to India. Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary in the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways, said about 300,000 tonne of LPG remains stranded at the Strait of Hormuz.
To diversify supply sources, India has begun importing LPG from the US.
“Most of the LPG is coming from the Gulf. Our OMCs (oil marketing companies) have started taking LPG from the US. The government is making all efforts to diversify sources of LPG too,” Sharma said, adding that diversification has also helped increase crude availability.
India currently consumes about 33 million tonne of LPG annually, while domestic production stands at around 13 million tonne, leaving the country about 60% dependent on imports for cooking gas supplies. And, 90% of India’s imports come through the war-hit Strait of Hormuz.