🔗 Share this article ‘A Critical Scenario’: War on Iran Tightens India's Cooking-Gas Stock. People wait in lines to buy LPG tanks for domestic use in Chennai. The repercussions of a war being fought nearly a significant distance away are now impacting India's households. As US-Israeli strikes on Iran disrupt energy deliveries through the key maritime chokepoint, availability of cooking gas are tightening across India, pushing restaurants to cut menus, reduce operating times and in some cases cease operations entirely. Social media is awash with video clips showing crowds outside fuel suppliers across Indian metros and localities as anxieties over fuel supplies escalate. Commercial LPG users appear the hardest struck: the sharpest squeeze is in food service establishments. "The situation is dire. Cooking gas simply isn't available," says a official of the a major restaurant body. Most food outlets run either on industrial fuel canisters or pipeline-supplied fuel, and the shortages are now being noticed across the country. "Many restaurants have shut down - some in Delhi, many in the southern region. People are turning to coal and wood and electric cookers to keep food preparation going." City-Specific Fallout In a financial hub, accounts say up to a 20% of eateries are already fully or partly shut as cylinder availability dwindle. In the southern cities of Bengaluru and Chennai, some eateries say their fuel reserves have dwindled with little backup. "Our menu is reduced to coffee and no other dishes - it is extremely difficult. Businesses are going to suffer," says a restaurant owner in Bengaluru. A food joint in a southern city which has ceased operations due to a shortage of kitchen fuel. Restaurant operators are scrambling to adapt. "Menus are being curtailed, some are cutting lunch service and opening only for dinner," an industry representative says, adding that stoppages are fluctuating as supplies wax and wane. "A number of eateries in Delhi were shut yesterday - a couple are back in business. It's a dynamic scenario." Retailers observe a surge in sales of electric cookers, with some saying they are selling out quickly. Authority's View Yet, the government maintains there is no shortage. India has more than a vast number of home fuel subscribers and authorities say stocks are being reallocated to households as tensions from the regional hostilities affect energy markets. Roughly six out of ten of India's LPG is sourced from abroad, and about 90% of those shipments pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital passage now effectively closed by the hostilities. The relevant department says that it instructed refineries to increase LPG output for household consumption, enhancing domestic production by about a quarter. Non-domestic supply is being allocated for essential sectors such as hospitals and educational institutions, while distribution will be "fair and transparent". "A degree of anxious stocking and stockpiling has been triggered by false reports. The standard supply timeline for household cylinders remains about two-and-a-half days," says a government spokesperson. Widening Concern Now the worry is spreading beyond kitchens. On social media, a widely shared video from Chennai shows a extended procession of scooters outside a gas outlet. "The panic is real," the description reads. India imports up to a vast majority of the petroleum it requires, leaving it particularly vulnerable to disruptions in worldwide shipments. According to data from market experts, concerns about India's broader fuel supplies may be exaggerated. India imports 90% of its crude oil. Around 50% of its petroleum shipments - about millions of barrels a day - travel through the strait, largely from Middle Eastern nations. Even if crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz are blocked, the deficit could be partly compensated for by higher imports of competitively priced oil from Russia, according to a sector expert. Based on vessel tracking and credible market sources, incremental Russian crude imports could reach around a significant volume of barrels a day, narrowing India's effective deficit from exposure to the Strait of Hormuz to about a substantial volume of barrels a day. "A large quantity of Russian oil barrels are currently on the water in the Indian Ocean and, with only two major Asian economies as major buyers, those barrels remain a viable alternative," an analyst noted. LPG: The Real Vulnerability The primary concern is LPG, commentators observe. India consumes roughly one million barrels a day, but produces only a minority share domestically, importing the rest - most of it through the chokepoint. Refineries can tweak operations to extract a bit more LPG, but even a moderate increase would only increase domestic supply to about under half of demand, leaving the country largely dependent on imports. In short: "Crude supply risk can be somewhat alleviated through diversification. Refined product supply remains largely sufficient. LPG availability is the real variable to track in the coming weeks." What may be worsening the concern on the ground is not just scarcity but erratic supply chains - and the usual problem of hoarding. An industry representative states opportunistic profiteering. "Distributors are misusing the situation - selling fuel on the black market and selling them at a inflated price. In one small town, I heard of cylinders being stockpiled and sold at a premium." For now, India's energy imports may be protected by international market dynamics. But in kitchens across the country, the more immediate question is simple: how to get the next gas canister.
People wait in lines to buy LPG tanks for domestic use in Chennai. The repercussions of a war being fought nearly a significant distance away are now impacting India's households. As US-Israeli strikes on Iran disrupt energy deliveries through the key maritime chokepoint, availability of cooking gas are tightening across India, pushing restaurants to cut menus, reduce operating times and in some cases cease operations entirely. Social media is awash with video clips showing crowds outside fuel suppliers across Indian metros and localities as anxieties over fuel supplies escalate. Commercial LPG users appear the hardest struck: the sharpest squeeze is in food service establishments. "The situation is dire. Cooking gas simply isn't available," says a official of the a major restaurant body. Most food outlets run either on industrial fuel canisters or pipeline-supplied fuel, and the shortages are now being noticed across the country. "Many restaurants have shut down - some in Delhi, many in the southern region. People are turning to coal and wood and electric cookers to keep food preparation going." City-Specific Fallout In a financial hub, accounts say up to a 20% of eateries are already fully or partly shut as cylinder availability dwindle. In the southern cities of Bengaluru and Chennai, some eateries say their fuel reserves have dwindled with little backup. "Our menu is reduced to coffee and no other dishes - it is extremely difficult. Businesses are going to suffer," says a restaurant owner in Bengaluru. A food joint in a southern city which has ceased operations due to a shortage of kitchen fuel. Restaurant operators are scrambling to adapt. "Menus are being curtailed, some are cutting lunch service and opening only for dinner," an industry representative says, adding that stoppages are fluctuating as supplies wax and wane. "A number of eateries in Delhi were shut yesterday - a couple are back in business. It's a dynamic scenario." Retailers observe a surge in sales of electric cookers, with some saying they are selling out quickly. Authority's View Yet, the government maintains there is no shortage. India has more than a vast number of home fuel subscribers and authorities say stocks are being reallocated to households as tensions from the regional hostilities affect energy markets. Roughly six out of ten of India's LPG is sourced from abroad, and about 90% of those shipments pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital passage now effectively closed by the hostilities. The relevant department says that it instructed refineries to increase LPG output for household consumption, enhancing domestic production by about a quarter. Non-domestic supply is being allocated for essential sectors such as hospitals and educational institutions, while distribution will be "fair and transparent". "A degree of anxious stocking and stockpiling has been triggered by false reports. The standard supply timeline for household cylinders remains about two-and-a-half days," says a government spokesperson. Widening Concern Now the worry is spreading beyond kitchens. On social media, a widely shared video from Chennai shows a extended procession of scooters outside a gas outlet. "The panic is real," the description reads. India imports up to a vast majority of the petroleum it requires, leaving it particularly vulnerable to disruptions in worldwide shipments. According to data from market experts, concerns about India's broader fuel supplies may be exaggerated. India imports 90% of its crude oil. Around 50% of its petroleum shipments - about millions of barrels a day - travel through the strait, largely from Middle Eastern nations. Even if crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz are blocked, the deficit could be partly compensated for by higher imports of competitively priced oil from Russia, according to a sector expert. Based on vessel tracking and credible market sources, incremental Russian crude imports could reach around a significant volume of barrels a day, narrowing India's effective deficit from exposure to the Strait of Hormuz to about a substantial volume of barrels a day. "A large quantity of Russian oil barrels are currently on the water in the Indian Ocean and, with only two major Asian economies as major buyers, those barrels remain a viable alternative," an analyst noted. LPG: The Real Vulnerability The primary concern is LPG, commentators observe. India consumes roughly one million barrels a day, but produces only a minority share domestically, importing the rest - most of it through the chokepoint. Refineries can tweak operations to extract a bit more LPG, but even a moderate increase would only increase domestic supply to about under half of demand, leaving the country largely dependent on imports. In short: "Crude supply risk can be somewhat alleviated through diversification. Refined product supply remains largely sufficient. LPG availability is the real variable to track in the coming weeks." What may be worsening the concern on the ground is not just scarcity but erratic supply chains - and the usual problem of hoarding. An industry representative states opportunistic profiteering. "Distributors are misusing the situation - selling fuel on the black market and selling them at a inflated price. In one small town, I heard of cylinders being stockpiled and sold at a premium." For now, India's energy imports may be protected by international market dynamics. But in kitchens across the country, the more immediate question is simple: how to get the next gas canister.