India has invoked emergency powers under the Essential Commodities Act to control domestic natural gas distribution, a rare move triggered by supply disruptions from the escalating West Asia conflict that threatens energy security for 1.4 billion people.
The Natural Gas (Supply Regulation) Order, 2026, issued on March 9, establishes a four-tier priority system that guarantees domestic households and transport get full gas supplies while cutting allocations to refineries by 35% and diverting gas from petrochemical plants and power stations.
The government order explicitly cites "disruptions in global supplies caused by the ongoing conflict" and impacts on liquefied natural gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, where suppliers have activated force majeure clauses and redirected supplies to other markets.
A billion people aren't a statistic - they're a billion stories. For Rajesh Kumar, who drives a compressed natural gas auto-rickshaw in Delhi, the government's decision to prioritize CNG supplies means he can still earn his daily wage while oil refineries take the hit. "Without gas, my family doesn't eat," he said.
Under the emergency framework, domestic piped gas and CNG for transport receive 100% allocation, while fertilizer plants get 70% and industrial consumers through city gas networks receive 80%. Oil refineries face the steepest cuts, mandated to reduce consumption to approximately 65% of their previous six-month average.
GAIL, India's state-owned gas distributor, will manage redistribution under government direction. A pooled pricing system applies to diverted supplies, and the order explicitly bars recipient entities from contesting force majeure mitigation through legal action - giving the government sweeping powers to override commercial contracts.
The move exposes India's strategic vulnerability in natural gas, where the world's most populous nation relies on imports for nearly half its consumption. India imported 31.5 million tonnes of LNG in fiscal 2025, much of it from Qatar and UAE through chokepoints now threatened by regional conflict.
