‘The Situation is Dire’: Conflict on Iran Squeezes India's Cooking-Gas Stock.
The repercussions of a war being fought nearly 3,000km away are now impacting India's homes.
As aerial attacks on Iran disrupt energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, stocks of kitchen fuel are tightening across India, pushing restaurants to reduce offerings, close earlier and in some cases close completely.
Social media is filled with video clips showing queues outside LPG distributors across Indian cities and towns as anxieties over fuel supplies grow. Restaurant kitchens appear the worst hit: the most severe shortage is in restaurant kitchens.
"Conditions are critical. Kitchen fuel simply isn't available," says a spokesperson of the National Restaurant Association of India.
Most restaurants run either on commercial LPG cylinders or piped gas, and the lack of supply are now being noticed across the country. "Numerous restaurants have closed - some in Delhi, many in the southern region. People are switching to solid fuels and induction stoves to keep kitchens going."
Regional Impact
In Mumbai, local news say up to a 20% of hotels and restaurants are already operating at reduced capacity as cylinder availability dry up. In the southern cities of tech and coastal hubs, some establishments say their cylinder inventory have dwindled with scarce alternatives. "Coffee is the sole item we can prepare and nothing else - it is truly dismal. Operations will be impacted," says a restaurant owner in Bengaluru.
Restaurant owners are rushing to adjust. "Menus are being curtailed, some are cutting lunch service and reducing hours," an industry representative says, adding that stoppages are varying as supplies come and go. "A number of eateries in Delhi were shut yesterday - some have resumed operations. It's a fluid situation."
Retailers observe a spike in sales of electronic cooking appliances, with some saying they are running out of them.
Official Position
Yet, the authorities insists there is adequate supply.
India has more than a vast number of household consumers and officials say stocks are being reallocated to households as geopolitical strain from the regional hostilities ripple through energy markets.
About six out of ten of India's LPG is sourced from abroad, and about nine out of ten of those shipments pass through the key maritime route, the strategic bottleneck now effectively closed by the war.
The oil ministry says that it directed refineries to boost LPG output for domestic use, raising domestic production by about a quarter. Non-domestic supply is being prioritised for critical services such as medical and academic centers, while distribution will be "equitable and clear".
"A degree of anxious stocking and accumulation has been caused by false reports. The standard supply timeline for domestic LPG remains about 60 hours," says a government spokesperson.
Widening Concern
Now the concern is moving beyond kitchens. On digital platforms, a widely shared video from Chennai shows a extended procession of motorbikes outside a petrol pump. "Concern is genuine," the description reads.
According to data from market experts, concerns about India's broader fuel supplies may be premature.
India imports 90% of its petroleum. Around 50% of its petroleum shipments - about 2.5-2.7 million barrels a day - travel through the waterway, largely from Middle Eastern nations.
Even if oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are hindered, the shortfall could be partly compensated for by higher imports of competitively priced oil from Russia, according to a refinery and oil markets analyst.
Based on maritime intelligence and expert analysis, additional Russian crude imports could reach around a significant volume of barrels a day, lessening India's effective deficit from exposure to the Strait of Hormuz to about a substantial volume of barrels a day.
"Tens of millions of Russian oil barrels are currently in transit at sea in the Indian Ocean and, with only two major Asian economies as major buyers, those barrels remain a available backup," an analyst noted.
Cooking Gas: The Critical Weakness
The key weakness is kitchen fuel, analysts say.
India consumes roughly one million barrels a day, but produces only a minority share domestically, importing the rest - the vast majority through Hormuz.
Refineries can adjust processes to squeeze out a bit more LPG, but even a moderate increase would only lift domestic supply to about under half of demand, leaving the country heavily reliant on imports.
In short: "Oil import vulnerability can be moderately reduced through varied suppliers. Processed petroleum stocks remains fairly adequate. Kitchen fuel stocks is the critical issue to monitor in the coming weeks."
What may be heightening the anxiety on the ground is not just tight supply but patchy deliveries - and the common threat of hoarding.
An industry representative states opportunistic profiteering.
"Suppliers are taking advantage of the situation - selling fuel on the black market and selling them at a high cost. In one small town, I heard of cylinders being hoarded and auctioned off."
For now, India's energy imports may be buffered by global trade flows. But in homes across the country, the more pressing concern is simple: how to get the next cylinder.
