Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday, 4 July 2026, credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government with preventing a domestic cooking-gas crisis, stating that proactive policy decisions kept household LPG prices below ₹950 even as global conditions threatened to push them to ₹2,000 per cylinder.

Context

In a post on X, Minister Puri wrote — 'ऊर्जा संकट केवल पेट्रोल-डीज़ल तक सीमित नहीं था, सबसे बड़ी चिंता देश की हर रसोई तक गैस पहुँचाने की थी' ['The energy crisis was not limited to petrol and diesel; the biggest concern was getting gas to every kitchen in the country']. He noted that experts had feared domestic LPG cylinder prices could reach ₹2,000, but timely and far-sighted decisions under PM Modi's leadership ensured that burden did not fall on Indian families.

Puri also highlighted that Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries continue to receive cylinders at below ₹650, and that commercial LPG cylinder prices have also been reduced recently. The post was directed at both @narendramodi and @PMOIndia.

Policy Backdrop

The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, launched in 2016, extended LPG connections and subsidies to women from below-poverty-line households, aiming to wean them off traditional, polluting cooking fuels. The scheme has since become a flagship welfare measure for the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

Alongside LPG subsidies, the government has aggressively expanded City Gas Distribution (CGD) networks to pipe natural gas directly into homes. According to Minister Puri's post, more than 11 lakh new households were connected to Piped Natural Gas (PNG) in a short span, helping balance energy supply and reduce sole dependence on LPG cylinders. India has pursued this LPG-to-PNG substitution partly to improve energy security and reduce the subsidy burden linked to imported liquefied petroleum gas.

The 2022 global energy price spike — triggered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict — placed severe pressure on LPG import costs worldwide. Several governments passed on those costs to consumers, but India's administration chose to absorb a significant portion through subsidies and supply-side interventions.

Stakeholders and Impact

The most direct beneficiaries of the pricing policy are the crores of households enrolled under Ujjwala Yojana, predominantly rural women who switched from firewood and biomass to clean cooking fuel. For them, the sub-₹650 price point is critical to sustained adoption of LPG.

Urban households connected to PNG networks benefit from price stability independent of LPG import fluctuations, since piped gas is sourced domestically or under longer-term contracts. The addition of over 11 lakh new PNG connections, as stated by the minister, represents a structural shift in how urban India accesses cooking energy.

Commercial establishments — restaurants, hotels, and small food businesses — stand to gain from the recent reduction in commercial LPG cylinder prices, lowering their operational costs.

What's Next

The government's stated ambition is to deepen CGD coverage across more cities and districts through successive bidding rounds, which would further reduce pressure on the LPG supply chain. Any revision in LPG subsidy allocations in the next Union Budget cycle will be closely watched by welfare economists and consumer groups.

With global energy markets remaining volatile, the balance between import-linked LPG pricing and the domestic PNG rollout will continue to define India's household energy security strategy — and the political narrative around it — in the months ahead.