India no longer wants to depend only on Gulf countries for its LPG supply. For this reason, oil companies are preparing to increase LPG purchases from America. At present, India buys about 2.2 million tonnes of LPG from America every year, but plans are being made to double it. Along with this, plans are also being made to buy gas from other countries like Algeria. Its purpose is to create more supply options, so that in future, if there is a situation like war, tension or closure of sea routes in any one region, India’s domestic gas supply is not affected. Recently, during the tension in West Asia, America emerged as one of the largest LPG suppliers to India and played an important role in meeting India’s needs when the supply from Gulf countries was affected.
The government is not only increasing new sources of imports, but is also implementing a 30-day strategic LPG Reserve Preparations are also being made to ensure that there is no shortage of gas in case of any emergency. According to Kpler data, the US’s share in India’s total LPG imports was less than 8% in 2025, but it increased rapidly in 2026. It reached about 12% in January, 13% in February, 37% in March, 40% in April, 55% in May and 65% in June. Apart from America, India is also exploring options to buy LPG from countries like Argentina, Nigeria and Malaysia. This will not only strengthen energy security, but will also reduce dependence on any one country or region. Let us understand this strategy of the government in detail.
1. Energy security will be strengthened
India imports about 60-65% of its LPG requirement and a major part of it till now has been coming from Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and Kuwait. In such a situation, if there is war, restriction or sea route is disrupted in any one area, the country’s gas supply may be affected. This has also been seen in the recent war between Iran and Israel. To reduce this risk, India is increasing LPG imports from America. This will reduce dependence on any one sector and it will be easy to maintain the availability of gas in the domestic market even in case of crisis.
2. The impact of the crisis on the supply chain will be less.
About 20% of the world’s sea supply of crude oil and large quantities of LPG passes through the Strait of Hormuz. During the Iran-Israel tension and the attacks in the Red Sea, it became clear that disruption of these sea routes could affect the global energy market. India’s greater dependence on the Gulf increases the risks at such times. Increasing LPG imports from America means that India will have an alternative source. Due to this, even if there is a crisis on any one sea route, the country’s gas supply will not be completely affected and the possibility of sudden shortage or sharp rise in prices in the domestic market will be reduced. India’s entire focus right now seems to be on working on this. Because in February, when America entered the war between Iran and Israel, Iran closed Hormuz. After this, the prices of commercial cylinders up to 5 kg small cylinder had increased in India.
3. Power to bargain for better prices will increase
India is among the world’s largest LPG importers and buys millions of tonnes of gas from abroad every year. When purchases are limited to only a few Gulf countries, there is less scope for bargaining. But if India buys LPG from many countries including America, the suppliers will compete with each other. With this, India can get better terms in terms of price, shipment and long term contact. This is the reason why many big importing countries depend on more than one source for their energy needs. With this strategy, the impact of fluctuations in global prices can also be reduced to some extent in future.
4. India-US strategic relations will become stronger
America has already become a major energy partner of India. India is buying crude oil, LNG and now increasingly LPG from America. Bilateral trade between the two countries has reached more than $190 billion and a target has been set to take it to $500 billion in the coming years. In such a situation, energy trade will be further strengthened by increasing LPG imports. This will not only increase gas purchases, but will also open new opportunities for energy investment, infrastructure, clean energy and strategic cooperation. This will provide India a reliable partner in the energy sector and the relations between the two countries will deepen. After Trump’s tariff policies, there was some sourness in the trade relations between the two countries. But talks on trade deal have started again. On such an occasion, if America gets a market for LPG, then it may also get a reason to sign a deal.
5. Disadvantages: Transportation costs may increase.
It usually takes 4 to 10 days for LPG to reach India from the Gulf countries, while it may take about 30 to 40 days for cargo from the Gulf Coast of America to reach India. Longer distances mean more ships, more fuel and higher freight costs. If global shipping rates increase or there is a shortage of ships, importing from the US could become expensive. Although this additional transportation cost is sometimes offset by lower gas prices in the US, under normal circumstances the total import cost is likely to be higher than in the Gulf countries due to longer distances.
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