Oil marketing companies raised the price of domestic cooking gas by Rs 60 per cylinder effective immediately, as per data available on the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) website. Following the revision, a 14.2-kg non-subsidised LPG cylinder will now cost Rs 913 in Delhi, a price paid by most households.
Prices in other metros now stand at Rs 939 in Kolkata, Rs 912.50 in Mumbai and Rs 928.50 in Chennai.
The price increase comes as global energy markets remain volatile following the escalation of tensions in West Asia, which has disrupted energy shipments and raised concerns over fuel availability across major importing countries.
Strategic Shift
At the same time, the government has begun exploring new supply options to ensure uninterrupted availability of cooking gas in the country. “The Indian government is actively scouting for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cargoes from alternative, non-Gulf sources including the US, Canada and Africa to ensure uninterrupted supply,” a senior official aware of the development said.
Domestic Mandate
Meanwhile, government officials have also taken steps to strengthen domestic supply. Facing potential disruptions in imports from West Asia, the petroleum ministry on Wednesday directed both state-run and private refineries to maximise production of cooking gas by diverting feedstock away from non-essential products such as petrochemicals.
“All oil refining companies operating in India shall maximise and ensure that propane and butane streams produced, recovered, fractionated or otherwise available with them are utilised for production of LPG and make it available to the three public-sector OMCs—IOCL, HPCL and BPCL—only,” said the government order dated March 5. The move assumes significance as the country currently has about 25 days of LPG inventory, while imports meet 75–80% of total demand.
“Further steps will be taken if required, but as of now the situation in terms of LPG supplies to households is comfortable. We are looking to source LPG from anywhere across the world,” the official said.
LPG remains the dominant cooking fuel in India, with demand expanding rapidly over the past decade following the rollout of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, which has pushed LPG coverage close to universal levels. India now has over 33 crore active domestic LPG customers, up sharply from 14.5 crore in 2014, while total LPG consumption has risen from 17.6 million tonnes in 2014-15 to about 32 million tonnes in FY25.