LPG Supply Disruption Pushes Indian Households Back to Solid Fuel Cooking

Disruptions to liquefied petroleum gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are forcing households and small restaurants across India to revert to coal, firewood and biomass cooking fuels, reversing years of progress on clean cooking access. State retailers sold only approximately 1.15 million tonnes of LPG in the first half of March 2026, a 17.3 per cent decline year on year and a 26.3 per cent drop month on month.

India imports the bulk of its LPG from Gulf producers, and the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz following the US-Israel conflict with Iran has severely disrupted delivery schedules. Vessel traffic delays around the strait have stalled LPG shipments arriving at Indian terminals, creating supply shortfalls that have left households and commercial kitchens without cylinder replacements. The shortage has disproportionately affected lower-income households that rely entirely on subsidised LPG cylinders distributed through the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana scheme.

The reversion to solid fuels carries significant health and climate costs. Cooking on coal braziers, biomass stoves and firewood generates particulate matter, carbon monoxide and other pollutants that are closely linked to respiratory illness, particularly in women and children who spend the most time near cooking fires. Solid fuel combustion also contributes to black carbon emissions, which have a disproportionate near-term warming effect. India had made substantial progress reducing solid fuel cooking through the Ujjwala scheme, and the current disruption risks eroding those gains among the most economically vulnerable households.

The LPG supply shock has renewed debate about India's dependence on fossil fuel imports for domestic energy needs and the vulnerability of the national cooking fuel supply to global geopolitical disruptions. Policy analysts are calling for accelerated promotion of electric cooking alternatives, biogas distribution and solar cooking technologies that would reduce this exposure. In the near term, the government faces pressure to secure alternative LPG supply routes and replenish cylinder stocks before the disruption causes lasting shifts in cooking fuel behaviour.

Key figure — 17.3% year-on-year decline in LPG sales in first half of March 2026