Iran war impacts Indian kitchens:Cooking gas demand contracts in April; jet fuel sales fall

The demand for cooking gas (LPG) in India has declined in April. Due to the ongoing conflict and tension between US-Israel and Iran, supply has been disrupted, which has directly impacted Indian kitchens and the commercial sector. According to government data, LPG consumption in April decreased by 16.16% to 2.2 million tons, whereas in the same month last year it was 2.62 million tons. According to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), gas sales in April also declined compared to March (2.379 million tons). Due to reduced supply, the government has had to cut commercial supply provided to hotels and industries to ensure there is no shortage of cooking gas in households. Supply Halted Due to Hormuz Strait Closure India imports approximately 60% of its LPG requirements. A large portion of this comes to India through the Hormuz Strait. Following the escalating tension between Iran and Israel and American attacks, this maritime route has been almost completely closed. Time Between Two Refills in Homes Increased Earlier, the government had implemented a 25-day lock-in period for booking domestic cylinders (meaning the second cylinder can only be booked 21 days after receiving one cylinder). Meanwhile, for rural areas, the gap for cylinder booking was increased to 45 days. Commercial Cylinder Made Expensive by Up to ₹994 on May 1 Earlier, on May 1, commercial cylinders became expensive by up to ₹994. In Delhi, it is available for ₹3,071.50. The price of 5 kg Free Trade LPG (FTL) cylinders was increased by ₹261. After this increase, the refill price of the ‘Chhotu’ cylinder has now become ₹813.50. Decline in Aviation Fuel (ATF) Demand as Well Due to war-like conditions in the Gulf countries, several nations had closed their airspace. As a result, many international flights were cancelled or their routes were changed. This directly impacted the consumption of Air Turbine Fuel (ATF), i.e., jet fuel. In April, jet fuel demand fell by 1.37% to 761,000 tonnes, which was 807,000 tonnes in March. Diesel-Petrol Demand Increased In April, diesel sales saw only a modest increase of 0.25%, reaching 8.282 million tons. In March, diesel demand had grown at a rate of 8.1%. Meanwhile, petrol sales saw a growth of 6.36% in April, which is lower than March’s growth of 7.6%.