Page 8 - The Indian EYE 071026

The Indian Eye
OPINION 8
JULY 10, 2026

Riding out Hormuz:

How we kept the lights on

At the peak of war, when no vessel was moving out of Hormuz, over 12 Indian LPG vessels were

quietly moved out of the strait without any toll payment, the largest number for any country

HARDEEP SINGH PURI

hen the Strait of Hormuz
closed in February-end,
Wthe Government of India
(GoI) made it a priority that Indian
citizens, especially the most vulner-
able, be protected from unprece-
dented supply and price disruptions. Almost four months into the largest energy disruption of our times, India did not have to take any emergency rationing measures
That move has held through almost 4
months later.
A country importing more than from Yanbu and Fujairah ports down through faster municipal permis- billion recorded in the very week the
85% of its crude, the argument ran, the Red Sea route. Vessels were sent sions. Between February and June, conflict began, with the economy
could not survive closure of Hormuz inside Hormuz to get new cargoes, international benchmark for cooking growing at 7.8% last quarter.
through which more than 20-30% of and fresh supply lines were opened gas, Saudi CP, rose by nearly 50%. As for oil reserves, energy locked
the world’s hydrocarbons move. To- with several countries like Algeria, But a cylinder that would cost more underground earns nothing and
day, stocks are full, pumps are open, Japan and Canada. Every producer than `1,600 at import-linked rate still costs a great deal to hold. So, it’s run
and the Indian consumer has paid India had ever dealt with, within the reaches an Ujjwala home at `642. through a system of import termi-
less for energy through this crisis than Gulf and outside it, stood with it. GoI absorbs roughly `900 loss on nals, depots, pipelines, refineries and
any other consumer in the world. But demand also had to be priori- each Ujjwala cylinder, and close to storages spread across the country.
Nearly 60% of India’s LPG con- tised. Digital authentication code was `600 on every cylinder going to every India today has 24 refineries, more
sumption used to be supplied from made mandatory to prevent diversion other household. So, every Indian than 47,000 km of oil and gas pipe-
West Asia. Much of that supply, al- of cooking gas by black marketers. A family today pays much less for their lines, and over 100,000 petrol pumps
most overnight, dropped to zero. On 25-day and 45-day limit was imposed, cooking gas than households in other that serve nearly 80 million people
the supply side, LPG Control Order so that every citizen got cylinders countries. every day.
was passed on March 8, which man- without anyone able to hoard them. A bold central excise cut of `10 Almost four months into the
dated all refineries to divert all their As commercial cylinders are not a litre in March absorbed substantial largest energy disruption of our
C3-C4 carbon streams to maximise regulated and any one buyer could part of the price shock, as crude had times, India did not have to take any
LPG production. Refineries that have bought entire supplies avail- nearly doubled and PSU oil compa- emergency rationing measures. This
had never made cooking gas were able at once, it was routed through nies absorbed daily losses running to was possible only because the ground
reconfigured within a few days, and industry associations and state civil over `5-10 bilion through this quar- had been prepared in the years be-
production was raised from 35 TMT supplies departments. Industry was ter. Across those same months, pet- fore. The widening of India’s crude
a day to 54 TMT a day. moved onto piped natural gas, large rol at US pumps rose by more than basket from 27 countries to 41, the
At the peak of war, when no ves- kitchens and establishments encour- 40%, and in Britain by close to 20%, doubling of import terminals, and
sel was moving out of Hormuz, over aged to fall back on other fuels wher- with double-digit increases across pipelines and reserves built across a
12 Indian LPG vessels were quietly ever possible, and household piped much of Europe. The rise in Indian decade were not abstractions when
moved out of the strait without any gas and CNG were kept in the ‘no- pumps was held to around 7%. Hormuz closed. They were the very
toll payment, the largest number for cut’ category. India’s foreign reserves stand at reasons the lights stayed on.
any country. Cargoes were secured GoI came together to enable near $690 billion, down only modest- The Author is India’s Minister for
and ship-to-ship transfers were done a shift to piped gas connections ly from the all-time high of $728.49 Petroleum and Natural Gas

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