New Delhi: India is heading toward a severe shortage of key energy commodities as the war between Israel-US and Iran enters its 15th day. The prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz—a narrow maritime passage that accounts for around 35-50 per cent of India’s crude oil supplies—has compounded India’s problem. India remains heavily dependent on the maritime passage not only for crude oil but also for critical fuels such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Nearly 60 per cent of India’s domestic LPG demand is met through imports. About 80-90 percent of this comes from Gulf countries, including Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, via the Strait of Hormuz. The remaining 40 per cent is produced domestically. While the Narendra Modi government has stated there is no shortage of cooking gas, social media is flooded with people standing in long queues across Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra, and other states. The impact of the gas shortage has been felt across the country, and that is why it is ThePrint Newsmaker of the Week. Several hotel and restaurant associations have flagged the shortage of commercial LPG. The Chennai Hotels Association wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday seeking uninterrupted supply. The letter stated that “commercial LPG has been temporarily suspended due to the shortage, for usage in restaurants and food industries.” Similarly, India also relies on Gulf supplies for LNG. The country consumes about 189 million standard cubic metres per day (mscm p/d) of natural gas, out of which 97.5 mscm p/d is produced domestically, while the rest is imported. Nearly 47.4 mscm p/d of imports comes from the Strait of Hormuz, which is being disrupted due to the conflict. Government invokes supply controls In response to the supply crunch, the government on Tuesday invoked the Essential Commodities Act through a gazette notification to regulate natural gas supplies. Titled Natural Gas (Supply Regulation) Order 2026, it outlines priority sectors where gas supply will be regulated and ensured. Domestic consumers have been given the highest priority and will receive 100 per cent supply with no cuts. Industrial and manufacturing consumers have been given up to 80 per cent of their previous six-month average supply. Fertiliser plants have also been allocated up to 70 per cent of their previous six-month average supply, a move aimed at protecting the agricultural input ahead of the upcoming sowing season. Measures undertaken by government With imports from Gulf countries affected, the government has issued LPG control orders and stepped up domestic production. “The LPG Control Order issued on 8 March 2026 directed all refineries to maximise LPG yields and channel the entire output of C3 and C4 hydrocarbon streams, comprising propane, butane, and propylene, exclusively to the three Oil Marketing Companies for domestic cooking gas,” Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas of India Hardeep Singh Puri informed Parliament on Thursday. The government on Friday informed that LPG production has been increased by 30 per cent through refinery directives, and further procurement is actively underway. However, market analysts say the increase may still fall short of demand. “Even if refineries manage to increase LPG output by 10–20 per cent above current domestic production, domestic supply would only rise to roughly 47–50 per cent of total demand, leaving a significant gap that must still be filled through imports,” Sumit Ritolia, lead analyst for modelling and refinery at Kpler, told ThePrint. In another step, the government has revised the LPG booking cycle for both urban and rural customers. The minimum gap between two-cylinder bookings has been increased from 21 to 25 days for urban areas and from 25 to 45 days for rural areas. To manage the shortage of natural gas, the government has directed refineries and petrochemical units to reduce their own consumption and divert gas supplies to high-priority sectors such as power generation, CNG for vehicles, and domestic gas connections. According to the minister, the government is also in talks with multiple countries to secure LNG supplies to bridge the shortfall. “Large LNG cargoes are arriving on an almost daily basis through alternative supply routes, and India has sufficient gas production and supply arrangements to sustain this position even in the event of a prolonged conflict,” Puri told Parliament. To address concerns raised by hotel and restaurant associations, the government has formed a three-member committee comprising executive directors from Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited. “Extensive meetings have been held with state civil supply departments and restaurant associations across the country and are continuing,” Puri said. Also read: Iran conflict reaches Indian Ocean. India’s balancing act gets harder Going back to alternative fuels On Thursday, the government also allowed the temporary use of alternative fuels such as biomass, RDF pellets and kerosene or coal for the hospitality and restaurant sector for one month. The move will allow commercial establishments to switch fuels, freeing up LPG supplies for priority consumers. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has advised all State Pollution Control Boards to permit the use of these fuels, even though they are more polluting compared to LPG and LNG. To meet the expected rise in demand for kerosene, the government will release an additional 48,000 kilolitres to state governments, over and above the quarterly allocation of nearly one lakh kilolitres, Sujata Sharma, joint secretary at the Petroleum Ministry, said at a press briefing on Thursday. However, allowing the use of alternative fuels such as biomass and coal marks a reversal of the government’s earlier push to phase out traditional fuels from Indian kitchens, which it had previously linked to health risks for women and environmental degradation. Launched in 2016, the government’s flagship scheme, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) aimed to replace firewood, coal and cow-dung cakes with the cleaner cooking fuel LPG. (Edited by Ratan Priya)
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The Houthis in Yemen have announced a blockade of Saudi Arabian shipping through Red Sea ports, including at the Bab el-Mandeb strait. The group, described as Iran-backed, stated the measure would target the top oil exporter following recent exchanges of fire.
Reports indicate this could add to existing maritime disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz linked to US-Iran confrontations.
A Reuters poll of economists conducted July 7-16 shows that most Gulf Cooperation Council economies are now projected to contract more sharply in the current year than estimated three months earlier, with median forecasts indicating declines of 8.1% for Kuwait and Qatar, 5.
1% for Bahrain, and 0.5% for the UAE. Saudi Arabia and Oman remain the only GCC economies expected to expand. The poll links the revisions to reduced export volumes through the Strait of Hormuz, higher freight costs, and weaker investor sentiment, even as oil prices have risen.
Initial reports indicate that a limited number of vessels transited the waterway during the first full day after the United States implemented a naval blockade of Iran. These observations have not been independently verified.
The head of the UN’s nuclear agency yesterday signaled that Iranian nuclear enrichment sites would be visited by his inspectors, a key component in the interim deal between the US and Iran to reach an end to their war. The comment by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi was the firmest yet from the agency, which is viewed as key in determining the status of Iran’s nuclear stockpile.
Since Israel launched a 12-day war on Iran last year, the IAEA has been blocked by Tehran from visiting enrichment sites where the Islamic republic is believed to store enough highly enriched uranium to potentially build as many as 10 nuclear weapons.
Photo: AP Iran has said that its program is peaceful, although it would be the only country in the world to have uranium enriched up to 60 percent purity without a weapons program. The US and Iran offered contradictory remarks on Tuesday about whether those sites would be inspected.
“I can understand political statements, they are part of the reality, but the fundamental thing I would like to remind you and draw your attention to is that there has been a memorandum of understanding, signed by both presidents,” Grossi told journalists at a news conference at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.
The accord “explicitly states that the nuclear activities that are going to be carried out with the regards of the nuclear material facilities will be supervised by the IAEA — in all letters,” he said. “Obviously, to do that, we have to inspect,” Grossi added.
BOOST: By operating the same advanced systems as the US military, Taiwan would be better positioned to share and integrate intelligence with partners, an expert said The first batch of MQ-9B SkyGuardian drones has arrived in Taiwan, and is being assembled and tested by drone manufacturer General Atomics and the military ahead of flight trials as part of the air force’s acquisition to bolster its aerial surveillance capabilities, a source said yesterday.
The air force allocated a budget of NT$21.7 billion (US$687 million) from 2022 to 2029 to procure four MQ-9B uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) manufactured by General Atomics along with associated equipment such as ground control stations. The US has agreed to deliver the four MQ-9Bs to Taiwan in two batches this year and next ‘BRAZEN’: The holiday did not stop China from activities that infringe on Taiwan’s maritime jurisdiction, but the CGA is ready to defend the nation, Kuan Bi-ling said Beijing is intensifying maritime pressure on Taiwan, but the nation will never yield, Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Sung Chen-en (宋承恩) said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has adopted a “shadowing and monitoring” approach to avoid falling into a Chinese trap to escalate tensions and deepen the conflict, Sung said in an interview published yesterday in the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper).
China Coast Guard formations patrolling waters east of Taiwan, as well as official Chinese vessels entering areas around Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) and Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) show Beijing’s attempts to significantly step up Taiwanese firms’ China investments have dwindled to less than 1 percent of their total foreign investments, putting China-based investments on track for a record low this year, Ministry of Economic Affairs data showed.
Taiwan’s investments abroad in the first five months of this year reached US$35.92 billion, Department of Investment Review data showed. Investments outside China totaled US$35.61 billion, up 133.94 percent year-on-year, while investments in China totaled US$310.
3 million, down 32.3 percent and about 0.86 percent of the total, data showed. Major overseas projects included Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) US$30 billion capital injection into an overseas subsidiary, VARYING OPINIONS: People with different political affiliations have different views on how bilateral ties with the US, Japan and China would affect Taiwan’s security Two-thirds of Taiwanese view closer US and Japan ties as beneficial to security, a survey by Taiwan’s top military think tank showed.
To gauge the Taiwanese public’s perceptions of how different external relationships affect security, the Institute for National Defense and Security Research commissioned a survey by National Chengchi University’s Election Study Center asking respondents whether closer relations with the US, Japan and China would strengthen or weaken Taiwan’s national security.