हिंदी में पढ़ें। Sehore, Madhya Pradesh — Ashok Singh runs a catering business, and between March 13 and the end of April, he has bookings for 12 weddings. But a recent halt in refilling commercial LPG cylinders, triggered by the conflict in the Middle East, has left him deeply worried. “The situation feels like the lockdown during COVID,” Singh said. “In March, there are fewer weddings, so we might manage. But if the cylinder crisis continues into April, it will become very difficult for us.”
The ongoing conflict has affected shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran controls, limiting supplies reaching India. As a result, fuels derived from LNG—including CNG, PNG, and LPG—are under pressure, raising fears of shortages if the conflict continues.
To manage the situation, India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas issued the Natural Gas (Supply Regulation) Order, 2026 on March 9, invoking provisions of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. The order establishes a four-tier priority system for allocating gas supplies, ensuring essential sectors receive fuel first.
Under the new framework, domestic LPG, transportation fuel such as CNG, and piped gas for households receive the highest priority. Commercial LPG cylinders—typically used by hotels, restaurants, and catering businesses—have been temporarily barred from refilling.
For people like Singh, whose business depends on commercial cylinders, the order has created immediate uncertainty.
Singh estimates that he has nearly ten wedding events in April alone. Cooking meals for about 1,000 guests twice typically requires 10 to 15 LPG cylinders. “There are two kinds of clients,” Singh explained. “Some arrange their own cylinders, but about 70 percent expect the caterer to manage the gas supply.”
He added, “Right now, we don’t know whether to worry about delivering good food on time or about arranging gas cylinders. It’s a very stressful situation.”
Nilesh Jain, who lives in Ashta in Sehore district, hosted his younger brother’s wedding in January. Singh’s team handled the catering at the event. “We arranged the cylinders ourselves,” Jain said. “For about 1,200 guests, we used 15 cylinders.” Only three of them were commercial cylinders. The remaining twelve were domestic LPG cylinders. “If you pay domestic suppliers ₹50 extra, they usually arrange it [extra cylinder],” Jain said. “Buying all 15 commercial cylinders would have been much more expensive.”
As of March 7, 2026, the price of a 14.2-kg domestic LPG cylinder in Bhopal rose by ₹60 to ₹918.50. A 19-kg commercial cylinder increased by ₹115 to around ₹1,910.50.
At these rates, buying 15 commercial cylinders would have cost Jain ₹28,650. Instead, by using 12 domestic cylinders and three commercial ones, his total expense came down to about ₹17,346.
Domestic LPG cylinders in India are typically red in colour and weigh about 14 kilograms, while commercial cylinders are blue and usually come in a 19-kg size. Commercial cylinders are designed for high-demand use, offering greater capacity, higher flow rates, and additional safety features compared to domestic ones.
The government’s decision to halt refilling of commercial cylinders aims to ensure an uninterrupted supply for households. Interestingly, our reporting from towns such as Sehore, Rajgarh, and Bhopal suggests domestic cylinders are already widely used for commercial cooking.
In the Rajgarh district, Ground Report correspondent Abdul Wasim Ansari visited several hotels and restaurants. He found that many establishments were cooking with domestic LPG cylinders. In addition, some businesses kept commercial cylinders on site primarily for inspection purposes, while continuing to rely on domestic cylinders for daily cooking.
The shortage may push that practice even further.
Street vendors, however, appeared more compliant. Many tea stalls and roadside food vendors were using commercial cylinders as required.
When asked whether restrictions on commercial LPG could increase misuse of domestic cylinders, R.K. Gupta, national vice-president of the LPG Association, told ANI that distribution companies and district administrations were monitoring the situation closely.
Rajgarh’s district food supply officer Ajit Kumar Singh avoided commenting directly on the long-standing use of domestic cylinders for commercial cooking. “We conduct inspections from time to time,” Singh said. “If such cases exist, we will conduct another round of checks.”
Both the government and distributors insist that household gas supplies remain normal, but uncertainty continues to drive demand. Agency operator Mustafa Hussain dismissed fears of widespread misuse of domestic cylinders. He said stricter digital booking systems have reduced opportunities for black-market diversion.
Consumers must now book cylinders using their registered mobile numbers. Those with two cylinders must wait 30 days between refills, while single-cylinder households must wait 25 days. Delivery requires a one-time password (OTP) to ensure the cylinder reaches the registered consumer.
When reporters visited an HP gas agency in Sehore on March 11 around 3 p.m., the office was crowded with anxious customers. Employees inside appeared overwhelmed. “I’ve been sitting here since morning and haven’t even had lunch,” one worker said. “People just keep coming.”
Mustafa Hussain also runs a hotel in Bhopal with daily sales of about ₹400,000. With the Muslim holy month of Ramadan underway—normally a peak business period—the ban has disrupted operations.
“I ordered an electric cooking furnace worth ₹400,000 yesterday,” Hussain said. “The business cannot stop.”
In Madhya Pradesh, the state government has formed two ministerial committees to monitor the fuel situation. After a cabinet meeting on March 10, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav reviewed stocks of LPG, petrol, and diesel with senior officials.
According to the Food and Civil Supplies Department, the state currently has 10 days of petrol and diesel reserves, seven days of CNG and PNG stock, and an ongoing LPG supply. The State MSME Minister, Chaitanya Kashyap, raised concerns during the meeting that the halt in commercial LPG refilling could harm small cottage industries.
According to a report by Dainik Bhaskar, Sehore city consumes roughly 80 commercial LPG cylinders daily, while the district uses about 150 cylinders. Across Madhya Pradesh, commercial cylinders account for about 7 percent of total LPG consumption. Except for hospitals and educational institutions, commercial LPG supply has effectively stopped for most businesses.
For caterers like Ashok Singh, however, alternatives are limited. Most modern marriage gardens no longer have wood-burning kitchen setups, he said. And many caterers are unfamiliar with electric cooking equipment capable of handling large wedding feasts.
“For weddings of this scale, LPG cylinders are the only practical option,” Singh said.
For now, he hopes the conflict abroad ends quickly and fuel supplies stabilize. “We just want peace,” he said, “so we can continue our work without this uncertainty.”
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