LPG imports a slight concern although no dry out reported, no need for panic booking: official

India imports 60% of its LPG requirements with 90% of these imports routed through the Strait of Hormuz

Import of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is a “slight issue of concern” because of the situation in West Asia, but no dry out has been reported among distributors in the country, Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas told reporters on Friday (March 13, 2026). She also sought to assure the country that it had adequate stock of cooking gas, urging consumers not to engage in any panic booking.

LPG and oil crisis updates on March 13, 2026

“Since a major portion of our [LPG] imports are routed through the Strait of Hormuz, it is a slight matter of concern,” she stated, adding, “Although, none of the 25,000 distributors in the country have reported any dry out in stocks… I would urge citizens to neither fall for rumours nor engage in panic buying.”

According to government data, India imports about 60% of its LPG requirements. Of this, about 90% is routed through the Strait of Hormuz.

Ms. Sharma further noted that production of LPG in the country has increased approximately 30% since March 5.

Specifically delving into the aspect of panic booking, Ms. Sharma noted that an average of 55.7 lakh requests for booking refills were placed per day between April 2025 and February 2026. However, the number of requests peaked to 69 lakh refills on March 10 and 75.7 lakh refill booking requests on March 12.

Ms. Sharma also made a pitch for consumers to consider a switch to piped natural gas to alleviate pressure on cooking gas cylinders. “India has 1.5 crore households that are being supplied with piped natural gas with another 60 lakh households that can switch to the same very easily because it is available in their vicinity,” she stated. “I would urge consumers to consider making the potential switch so as to reduce the pressure on LPG.”

However, addressing concerns over available stocks, the senior bureaucrat also told reporters that there was no shortage of natural gas and crude oil in the country. Further, with respect to LPG, she sought to assure consumers: “Crude inventories are very high and in good position, our refineries are working at 100% capacity or more, they have adequate inventories and so is the LPG,” she stated.

1.5 lakh Indians have returned since February 28

Aseem Mahajan, Additional Secretary for Gulf, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also apprised the press that 1.5 lakh Indian nationals have returned to the country since February 28.

Further, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson at the MEA, stated that 170 Indians had crossed through land into Armenia from Iran. “Several of them have come back to India, and others would be coming back, taking commercial flights from Armenia,” he said. Elaborating on the repatriation, Mr. Jaiswal stated, “The MEA instituted an all-round control room on March 4, and till date, we have received 900 calls and 200 mails with the number progressively coming down.” He added, “This gives an indication that there are lesser concerns considering the stranded people are coming back to India.”

Elaborating on flight operations, Mr. Mahajan said regular non-scheduled commercial flights were operating from various airports in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with an observed improvement in the availability of flights. Additionally, 2,900 Indians have returned via flights operated by Qatar Airways with one to two flights expected daily in the next few days.