India LPG Shortage Risk Rising Due to Low Storage

India’s LPG demand has surged rapidly over the past decade due to government programs and increased household adoption. However, limited strategic storage and heavy reliance on imports have created vulnerabilities in the country’s energy supply system.

Data indicates that while the country chose to drastically increase LPG use, particularly among impoverished households, driven by imports, there was no plan to increase long-term, strategic LPG reserves concurrently with the LPG scarcity affecting daily life in India.

India’s Growing LPG Dependence

In contrast to motor gasoline, where strategic stockpiles of crude oil and products are equal to two months’ worth of use, the interruption has struck swiftly because over 85% of India’s imports must pass the Strait of Hormuz to reach the country’s shores and there is little backup storage.

Operational flow, not stockpiling, is the goal of the Indian LPG system. Additionally, there are currently no specific plans to expand big subterranean storage. The absence of such storage has been identified by the International Energy Agency (IEA) as a weakness in India’s infrastructure.

LPG Import Growth and Consumption Trends

According to IEA data, India’s imports of LPG tripled to almost 20 million tonnes between 2011–12 and 2024–2025. About 60% of India’s needs come from imports. India’s reliance on imports has grown from 47% in 2015 to the present levels.

In January of this year, imports surpassed 18 million tons. India is the world’s second-largest LPG consumer, consuming about 3 million tons of LPG each month.

India’s Limited LPG Storage Capacity

However, less than half of that monthly requirement can be met by the whole storage capacity, with nearly all of it being stored in tanks at import terminals like Ennore.

Regarding long-term storage, India has two subterranean LPG caverns, Mangaluru and Vishakapatnam, with a combined capacity of 1.4 lakh tonnes.

Subterranean Storage and Infrastructure Gap

Vishakapattinam storage was put into service in 2007, but since LPG usage began to increase, just one has been put into service: Mangaluru, with 80,000 metric tonnes, or just one day’s worth.

The entire amount of subterranean storage is 1.4 lakh tonnes, or less than two days’ worth of use.

Daily Consumption Pressure

India currently consumes almost 80,000 tons of LPG every day. Households receive more than 85% of it.

The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has added around 10 crore of the nation’s 33 crore household LPG connections since 2017.

Government Policy and Import Agreements

The PMUY program aimed to provide clean cooking gas to the underprivileged as well, relieving women of the laborious chulhas made of firewood, cow dung, and kerosene burners.

Adult women from low-income homes received deposit-free LPG connections through the program, which also provided purchasing subsidies.

Storage Expansion Challenges

This program is responsible for both the increase in LPG consumption and the country’s reliance on imports.

In its 2025 grant request to Parliament, the MoPNG stated that there were no plans to build any further caverns beyond the two. In 2025, the Mangaluru cavern opened for business.

International LPG Supply Arrangements

India and the United States reached a deal in February to import 2.2 million tons of LPG annually, but unlike cargoes from the Persian Gulf, U.S. cargoes take about 45 days to reach India.

Europe is able to store about 25% of the world’s annual gas consumption.

Global Storage Comparison

According to Christoph Halser, Senior Analyst, Gas & LNG Research, Rystad Energy, a Norwegian energy research and business intelligence firm, European subterranean storage capacity is equivalent to roughly 150% of yearly LNG import volume.

European nations do not have a strategic government-controlled gas reserve, and the EU does not force them to, in contrast to oil, where there is a mandate for a 90-day emergency stock equivalent.

Geological Zones for LPG Storage in India

Following the start of the conflict in Ukraine, the EU initially set storage filling targets for public storage facilities in 2022. There are three geological zones in India that are important for storing this kind of gas.

The Peninsular Shield, the Archean cratonic basement of granite, gneiss, and charnockite that underlies about 60% of peninsular India, is the most well-established. This rock is the location of both functioning LPG gas caves.

Alternative Storage Possibilities

Using the hydraulic containment technique, the storage cavern at Visakhapatnam is located 162 to 196 meters below the surface in Precambrian gneiss. The floor of Mangaluru lies 141 meters below mean sea level, and the host rock is granitic gneiss.

Future Storage Exploration

The Deccan Traps, a huge basaltic plateau that spans over 5,00,000 square kilometers in western and central India, make up the second zone.

The traps are difficult to store. Engineers India Limited has faced challenges when designing a new LPG facility on the west coast.

The Bikaner-Barmer belt of Rajasthan’s salt deposits make up the third zone. Cavern storage is an option for these halite deposits.

In addition to being quicker and less expensive to build, salt caves are naturally impermeable and have quick injection and withdrawal capabilities.

Crude pipelines run through the area, and Barmer is now building a refinery.

For salt cavern expertise, EIL and Germany’s DEEP have partnered. Depleted gas reservoirs in the Krishna-Godavari, Cambay, and Mumbai offshore basins are being investigated as a fourth alternative.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why might there be a shortage of LPG in India?

For LPG, India is largely dependent on imports. Approximately 60% of the nation’s LPG needs are satisfied by imports, therefore any disruption in shipping or supply routes can have an immediate impact on availability.

2. What role does the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana play in the increased demand for LPG?

Since 2017, the program has added about 10 crore new consumers by offering free LPG connections to low-income families. As a result, LPG usage rose dramatically throughout India.

3. What makes India susceptible to interruptions in supply?

Over 85% of imports of LPG travel across the Strait of Hormuz, a significant international shipping route. The supply of LPG to India may be impacted by any shipping stoppage or geopolitical unrest.

4. Does India have adequate stocks for storing LPG?

No, long-term storage is quite scarce in India. With a combined storage capacity of roughly 1.4 lakh tonnes, the nation’s two subterranean LPG caverns—located in Mangaluru and Visakhapatnam—can cover less than two days’ worth of national usage.

5. Are there any plans to expand the supply or storage of LPG?

Although the United States and India recently inked an agreement for the purchase of LPG, shipments arrive in India more slowly than those from the Middle East, taking about 45 days.

Conclusion

India’s significant reliance on imports, quickly increasing consumption, and extremely constrained strategic storage capacity are the main causes of the country’s LPG shortage danger.

Millions of families now have access to LPG thanks to social programs, but long-term infrastructure like subterranean storage and varied supply lines has not increased at the same rate.

In order to guarantee energy security in the future, it will be essential to fortify storage facilities and supply sources.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is based on publicly available energy data and reports.