Bulk LPG consumers will be allotted 50% of their pre-crisis consumption requirements. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Union government on Thursday (June 25, 2026) restored the supply of industrial and commercial liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to pre-crisis levels and withdrew all sector-specific allocation caps that had been imposed at the peak of the West Asia crisis, citing an improved supply situation.
“In a major relief to industrial and commercial LPG consumers, the Government has removed all sectoral restrictions on the supply of non-domestic packed LPG and restored supplies to the levels prevailing prior to the West Asia crisis,” the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas stated.
In addition to this, bulk LPG consumers will be allotted 50% of their pre-crisis consumption requirements. Supplies had been suspended at the onset of the crisis.
The directives are aimed at offering relief to commercial and industrial users of the bottled hydrocarbon gas, the government said.
At the peak of the crisis in early March, the government had issued orders to temporarily restrict the supply of commercial LPG. This was gradually eased to provide 70% of the pre-crisis level requirements across multiple tranches — including the conditional 10% allocation to States and Union Territories for facilitating expedited transition to piped natural gas (PNG).
Twenty-two States had received the additional commercial LPG allocation.
The government also eased its earlier direction mandating that propane and butane — used in other sectors as well — be only used for domestic LPG production.
Further, the Petroleum Ministry has also directed oil marketing companies to continue maintaining data on commercial and industrial LPG consumers to facilitate “efficient planning and supply management”.
PNG push continues
The Ministry stated that it continued to retain its resolve to expand PNG coverage. At the peak of the crisis, the government had called for a transition to PNG in a bid to ease pressure on LPG.
“Commercial and bulk consumers who have already shifted to PNG will continue to remain on PNG,” the statement said. “Other eligible LPG consumers having access to the PNG network, or those in the process of shifting to PNG, will be progressively transitioned to PNG in coordination with City Gas Distribution (CGD) entities.”
According to last available data, since March this year, more than 10 lakh PNG connections have been given, with infrastructure laid to facilitate another 3.22 lakh connections.
Provisional government data shows that overall LPG consumption declined 19% in May 2026.
Published – June 25, 2026 10:28 pm IST