What Happened
- The government is considering establishing a 30-day strategic LPG reserve to buffer against supply disruptions caused by the ongoing West Asia conflict.
- Conflict in West Asia has effectively choked the Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately 90% of India's LPG imports pass, exposing a critical energy vulnerability.
- India currently has two operational underground LPG rock caverns: an 80,000-tonne facility at Mangalore (commissioned 2025) costing ₹854 crore, and a 60,000-tonne cavern at Visakhapatnam (commissioned 2007).
- Combined, these two caverns cover only about 2 days of India's daily LPG consumption of roughly 90,000 tonnes per day — far below the proposed 30-day target.
- A 10-day minimum strategic LPG reserve is estimated to cost approximately ₹9,607 crore; the full 30-day target would require substantially larger investment and new underground storage infrastructure.
Static Topic Bridges
Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) — India's Framework
India's crude oil strategic reserves are maintained by Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Oil Industry Development Board (OIDB) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. ISPRL operates three underground crude oil caverns: Visakhapatnam (1.33 MMT), Mangaluru (1.5 MMT), and Padur, Udupi (2.5 MMT) — a combined capacity of 5.33 MMT providing approximately 9.5 days of crude oil coverage (as of 2026, at roughly 64% capacity). India's commercial refinery stocks add another 64.5 days, making total oil system coverage around 74 days. The IEA norm for member countries is 90 days of net import coverage.
- ISPRL total SPR capacity: 5.33 MMT crude oil across 3 underground locations
- Current crude coverage: ~9.5 days strategic reserves alone; ~74 days including commercial stocks
- Future expansion approved: Chandikhole (new) + doubling Padur capacity = 11.83 MMT total
- LPG caverns: 80,000 T (Mangalore) + 60,000 T (Visakhapatnam) = ~140,000 T total ≈ 2 days only
- Proposed goal: 30 days LPG strategic reserve
Connection to this news: The proposal to create a 30-day LPG buffer directly responds to the gap between India's robust crude oil reserves and its dangerously thin LPG reserves — a gap made visible by the West Asia crisis closing the Strait of Hormuz.
Strait of Hormuz and India's Energy Import Dependence
The Strait of Hormuz is a 33-km-wide chokepoint between Iran and Oman connecting the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea. It is the world's most critical energy transit route, carrying roughly 21 million barrels of oil per day (about 21% of global oil consumption). India imports about 85% of its crude oil and over 50% of its LPG from the Gulf region, making any Hormuz disruption an acute strategic threat. Unlike crude oil, LPG does not have the same depth of domestic production or alternative import routes.
- Strait of Hormuz width: ~33 km at narrowest point
- ~90% of India's LPG imports transit through the Strait
- India's oil import dependency: ~85% of crude requirements
- LPG demand: ~28 million metric tonnes per annum and growing (driven by Ujjwala scheme)
- Underground rock cavern storage is the only viable large-scale LPG buffer technology
Connection to this news: The West Asia conflict has forced a policy rethink — the same geopolitical risk that prompted India's crude oil SPR in the early 2000s is now driving a parallel push for LPG strategic storage.
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana and LPG Demand Growth
Launched in 2016, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) provided free LPG connections to BPL households, transforming LPG from an urban fuel to a near-universal cooking energy source. This dramatically expanded India's LPG consumer base to over 330 million households and drove demand to record highs. Any supply disruption now carries acute social and food security consequences, especially for rural and lower-income households.
- PMUY launched: May 2016
- Connections provided: Over 10 crore (100 million) free LPG connections to BPL women
- Current LPG coverage: ~99% of Indian households (from ~55% pre-Ujjwala)
- LPG consumption: ~90,000 tonnes per day nationally
- Social impact of LPG disruption: Affects cooking, health (indoor air pollution), livelihoods
Connection to this news: The scale of LPG dependence created by Ujjwala makes strategic LPG reserves a social security imperative, not just an energy policy goal.
Key Facts & Data
- Proposed reserve: 30 days of LPG consumption
- Existing caverns: 80,000 T (Mangalore, 2025) + 60,000 T (Visakhapatnam, 2007) = ~140,000 T ≈ 2 days
- Mangalore cavern cost: ₹854 crore
- Minimum viable LPG buffer (10 days): estimated ~₹9,607 crore
- 90% of India's LPG imports transit Strait of Hormuz
- India's crude SPR: 5.33 MMT at Visakhapatnam, Mangaluru, Padur = ~9.5 days standalone coverage
- IEA strategic reserve norm: 90 days of net imports
- LPG daily consumption: ~90,000 tonnes/day nationally