Facing supply disruption, govt directs refiners to raise LPG production, halts feedstock supply for petrochemicals
New Delhi: Facing supply disruption from West Asia, the Indian government has directed all state-run and private-sector refineries in the country to step up production of domestic cooking gas by diverting feedstock away from the manufacturing of non-essential products, including petrochemicals.Using its powers under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, the ministry has directed all refiners to supply LPG to the three state-owned refiners – Indian Oil Corp Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd – which will in turn supply it only to domestic consumers of cooking gas.The development is significant as India has only about 25 days of LPG stock. Annual demand stands at 33.15 million tonnes, with imports servicing about 75-80% of this.
LPG is produced from propane and butane, which are byproducts of crude oil and natural gas processing.“All oil refining companies operating in India shall maximize and ensure that propane and butane streams produced, recovered, fractionated or otherwise available with them are utilized for production of LPG and make it available to the three public-sector OMCs, IOCL, HPCL and BPCL only," read the order dated 5 March.An official said on the condition of anonymity, "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 in the world."India is one of the world’s largest LPG importers and relies heavily on West Asian supplies, mostly from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE, and the current disruption in the region could tighten availability for the country.
India's LPG imports in FY25 stood at $12.47 billion. Imports in FY26 had already touched $11.25 billion by January.
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