LPG Cylinder Alert: Govt Clears 20% Extra Commercial LPG Supply To Aid Hotels, Community Kitchens, Labourers

LPG Supply Alert: The central government, on Saturday, March 21, approved the additional 20% commercial Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) allocation to states. With the new update on LPG supply, the total allocation now stands at 50% of the pre-crisis level. The development is likely to benefit dhabas, restaurants, hotels, community kitchens, industrial canteens, and migrant labourers receiving 5KG FTL.

"I wish to now inform you that w.e.f 23.3.26 till further notification, another 20% is being allotted to the State that would take the overall allocation to 50% of the pre-crisis level," read a letter by Neeraj Mittal, Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas issued on Saturday.

Additional LPG Supply To Be Allocated To Hotel, Restaurants, Other Sectors
The additional allocation will be supplied on a priority basis to sectors like restaurants, dhabas, hotels, industrial canteen, food processing/dairy, subsidised canteens, outlets run by state governments or local bodies, community kitchens, and 5kg FTL for migrant labourers.

" All commercial / industrial LPG consumers shall have to register with OMCs before they can be eligible to be allotted any commercial LPG from the overall 50% allocation. OMCs shall register such customers and keep a record of the sector they operate in the end-use of LPG and annual weight requirement of LPG of that customer in respective database," added Mittal in the letter.

Additionally, the Ministry has urged all industrial LPG consumers to apply for PNG with the City Gas Distribution entity in their city and take actions accordingly.

LPG Supply Concerns in India

The West Asia crisis due to ongoing Iran-US war has sparked concerns around LPG cylinder supply in India. However, the government has assured that there is no commercial LPG cylinder shortage. Additionally, the Union government has also increased support for commercial LPG users and reassuring fuel supplies,

Earlier this week, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Sujata Sharma, said all States and Union Territories may now utilise the extra allocation of commercial LPG to ensure there is no LPG supply shortage for commercial usage.

The central government has also stepped up enforcement checks and asked states to fix clear distribution priorities. So far, 15 states and union territories have framed LPG distribution guidelines. For short-term relief, the centre has allotted 48,000 kilolitres of extra kerosene, meant mainly for cooking and related uses, and 12 states have already drawn on this quota.

The tightening LPG supply has started changing daily routines across sectors. Many restaurants are pruning menus and dropping dishes that need long cooking on gas. Brick and tile units, ceramic plants and glass kilns are scaling back operations. Crematoria, laundries, hospital kitchens, street vendors and community kitchens report mounting pressure as cylinders become harder to obtain.