Squatting beside a chulha on a cracked pavement in the pre-dawn grey, Neerja flips a chapati with practised ease. At 36, she is the sole breadwinner for her two children, a girl and a boy, selling parathas and aloo sabzi from a roadside stall to keep them fed and schooled. The chulha is not nostalgia. It is economics.
“The gas cylinder runs out in two days,” she says, eyes fixed on the tawa. “After that, we buy one outside, paying Rs 3,500 to Rs 4,000.” The refill she booked, she adds, never reached her home. The official price of a 14.2-kg domestic cylinder is Rs 913. For Neerja, the black-market rate is nearly four times higher. So she rations the gas for heating sabzi, lights a wood fire for the rest, and hopes the smoke does not get too bad.
Her calculation is simple: burn biomass first, use gas sparingly, a survival strategy many have adopted, in Sarai Khale Khan roadside vendor market, born of a crisis rooted thousands of kilometres away. The current gas crisis in India has been triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran, which has severely disrupted maritime traffic through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about 90 per cent of India’s LPG imports.
This has tightened supplies, stretched storage buffers, and strained distribution networks, particularly for cooking gas bookings and deliveries. In India, over 1,00,000 inspections and raids have been conducted across states and union territories, resulting in the seizure of approximately 52,000 cylinders, the filing of 850 FIRs, and the arrest of 220 individuals. Oil Marketing Companies have issued around 1,500 show-cause notices, penalised 118 distributors, and suspended 41, said Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG).
Household Needs And Black Market
On the supply side, officials report that more than 18 crore cylinders have been delivered to households since 1 March, 2026. Online LPG booking has surged to nearly 97 per cent, while delivery authentication through OTP now covers about 90 per cent of transactions, improvements officials say are reducing leakages.
Despite the supply crunch, the surge in daily bookings showed how acute the anxiety had become. Average daily bookings rose from 55.7 lakh to 88.8 lakh in a single day, a spike of nearly 60 per cent, as panic buying overwhelmed the system.
To ease pressure, commercial LPG supplies were initially cut to near zero before being gradually restored to about 70 per cent of normal levels, with approximately 4 to 4.2 million commercial cylinders now supplied. The government also directed that households with piped natural gas connections surrender their LPG cylinders under the Essential Commodities Act, to prevent unnecessary hoarding and ensure LPG reaches households that depend solely on cylinders for cooking.
Over 6.75 lakh five-kg free-trade LPG cylinders have been sold since 23 March, targeted at migrant workers and those without formal connections, with daily sales rising from an average of 70,000 in February to over 90,000 on 4 April. In the last two weeks alone, approximately 5,500 awareness camps were conducted across states and union territories.
Officials have directed states to hold routine press briefings to keep the process visible to the public.
Additionally, as BW Businessworld earlier reported, a geopolitical conflict thousands of kilometres away is beginning to reshape how India’s poorest households cook their daily meals. Supply disruptions linked to the ongoing war involving Iran have tightened global energy flows, putting pressure on LPG availability in India and triggering a policy response that would have seemed unlikely just a few years ago.
“Getting a cylinder has become very difficult. We managed to get one for Rs 6,000, and that too after a lot of effort and waiting. For a small tea stall like mine, this is a high cost. I had no option but to increase the price of tea by Rs 5, otherwise I would be running at a loss and unable to continue,” a tea seller near Max Hospital in Gurugram, who declined to be named, told BW Businessworld.
On the ground, media reports from several parts of the country showed long queues outside gas agencies, delays in cylinder deliveries and a surge in demand that has overwhelmed booking systems in some areas. A widely circulated video from Uttar Pradesh showed crowds gathering outside a gas dealership amid fears of shortages, although it could not be independently verified.
As uncertainty grows, households are adjusting their consumption patterns. Some families are opting for meals that require less cooking time, while institutions such as hostels and canteens have reduced fuel-intensive dishes. In more vulnerable regions, there are early signs of a deeper shift: households are beginning to fall back on alternative fuels, including firewood.
Nationwide LPG Delivery Delays
A nationwide survey by LocalCircles found that 43 per cent of household consumers reported experiencing LPG delivery delays in the past week, while 8 per cent said they had to turn to the black market to secure a cylinder on time. Of respondents, 13 per cent said they were unable to even place bookings when needed, while 22 per cent reported waiting longer than usual for deliveries.
The survey, which ran across 311 districts and garnered more than 40,000 responses, found that 43 per cent of household consumers experienced difficulties in booking or receiving domestic LPG cylinders during the past week. Among these households, 22 per cent said they had to wait longer than usual for delivery, while 18 per cent said they simply could not obtain a cylinder, and 8 per cent reported resorting to black market purchases.
A further 13 per cent said they could not submit a booking at all when needed.
In areas where black marketing was reported, most consumers aware of such activity said suppliers or middlemen were charging substantial premiums above official prices, ranging from Rs 300 to Rs 4,000 extra per cylinder. According to the survey, 72 per cent of those aware of black market activity cited this broad premium range, indicating that informal costs can occasionally far exceed official rates.
The LocalCircles survey shows mounting unease among households who say that, despite booking confirmations and Delivery Authentication Codes (DAC), deliveries are delayed or fail to materialise entirely. Respondents cited shortages of delivery vehicles, irregular supplies from oil firms and instances of “ghost deliveries”, where systems record a cylinder as delivered even though consumers never received it, as key frustrations.
In one cited case, a gas agency in Sitapur was sealed after authorities discovered nearly 800 cylinders missing, suggesting possible diversion of supplies. In the capital, police reportedly conducted dozens of raids, seizing over 1,700 cylinders and filing multiple first information reports (FIRs) against alleged hoarding and illegal distribution networks.
Consumer reports detailed in the survey also highlighted long queues outside distribution agencies in several cities and towns, with residents protesting perceived supply gaps and logistical inefficiencies. In Bhubaneswar, for instance, “ghost deliveries” prompted public outcry and sustained pressure on agency outlets.
The survey also showed the importance of tighter monitoring and enforcement mechanisms. Consumer groups and respondents have called on authorities to enhance last-mile delivery oversight, clamp down on diversion and black market networks, and improve transparency in distribution. LocalCircles said the findings will be shared with relevant government stakeholders to seek policy and enforcement responses aimed at reducing profiteering and restoring efficient supply. |
