India is considering reducing the size of LPG cooking gas cylinders from 14.2 kilograms to 10 kilograms as the Strait of Hormuz crisis disrupts supplies of liquefied petroleum gas to the world's second-most populous nation, according to a News18 report.
The move, still under discussion by government officials, would mark an unprecedented peacetime rationing of household cooking fuel in India, where more than 300 million households depend on LPG cylinders for daily cooking.
A billion people aren't a statistic - they're a billion stories. For Lakshmi Devi, who runs a small tea stall in Bhopal, a smaller cylinder means more frequent trips to the distributor and less certainty about when she can keep her business running. "I used to get one cylinder and know it would last three weeks," she says. "Now they want to give me less but I still have the same number of customers to serve."
The crisis stems from escalating tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula through which roughly one-fifth of global oil and significant volumes of LPG flow. The strait has become a geopolitical flashpoint, with disruptions threatening energy supplies across Asia.
India imports approximately 55% of its LPG requirements, with major suppliers including Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar - all of whose exports must pass through the Hormuz Strait. With that supply route now uncertain, India faces a stark choice: reduce consumption or find alternative suppliers at significantly higher costs.
The potential cylinder size reduction would not reduce the per-kilogram price, meaning households would pay the same rate but receive less gas. Officials argue the move would help stretch available supplies and reduce the frequency of stockouts, but critics note it effectively increases costs for families who must refill more often and may face delivery delays.
The proposal comes as black market prices for LPG cylinders have already spiked in several cities. In Bengaluru, small restaurant owners report paying up to ₹5,000 for domestic cylinders on the black market - - as commercial cylinder supplies dwindle.
