The union and state governments of India have reassured the public that there is no shortage of LPG commercial cylinders, even as restaurants and food stalls are warning they could be shut down in the country.
The governments in Haryana, Odisha, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh all made statements over the past two days, clarifying that their supply of petroleum products has been completely normal. The ministers of the states asked people to avoid believing in rumours and stop panic buying.
#WATCH Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh | On reports of LPG shortage, Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Anjaneya Kumar Singh says, "Currently, there is absolutely no crisis of any kind in Moradabad. People are panicking after hearing news from outside sources, and rumours are being… pic.twitter.com/Bsq7gUfxPU
— ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2026
On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at those trying to create panic on the LPG situation in India, and said they are "not only exposing themselves before the people but also hurting the country."
The Delhi government also assured people that the supply of liquefied petroleum gas, petrol, diesel, and piped natural gas in the city was normal, and urged them to refrain from panic buying or hoarding.
Despite reassurances, however, restaurants and stalls have been shutting down and warning of closures across multiple cities in the country. There is also a surge in reports of thefts, arrests for hoarding, and electric stoves being sold out.
In Tamil Nadu, two persons were arrested and detained under suspicion of hoarding 398 LPG cylinders for black marketing, marking the first time such stringent action has been taken in Tamil Nadu for cylinder hoarding, police said on Friday.
Another 189 cylinders, including 63 domestic and 126 commercial units, were recovered in a subsequent raid at the house of Madan Kumar, 27, in Anandam Nagar, officials said.
A M Vikkrama Raja, President of the Tamil Nadu Vanigar Sangankalin Peramaipu, told PTI: "The Union government must take action on a war footing to ensure that traders are not affected as they were during the Covid-19 period. Due to the cylinder shortage, items like 'dosa', 'poori', and 'parotta' are becoming unavailable in hotels. While we are doing our best to feed the people, some agencies are hoarding cylinders and selling them for as high as Rs 4,000. Authorities must conduct inspections and take strict action against such elements."
Authorities have impounded 38 domestic LPG cylinders during raids conducted over the last two days in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur district in the Bundelkhand region bordering Uttar Pradesh, officials said on Thursday. The raids were conducted after the district administration asked officials to take strict action against black marketing, illegal storage and misuse of domestic LPG cylinders.
In Bengaluru, the crisis has led to a surge in cylinder thefts. Authorities had to urge residents to keep their cylinders safe as the supply shortage led to people's LPG cylinders being stolen. In one incident in Kalyan Nagar, a cylinder was stolen overnight by a thief on a bike in a sack. The CCTV footage of the incident has now gone viral.
In Maharashtra, the government had to order police protection for vehicles transporting cylinders to ensure an uninterrupted supply to citizens.
In Telengana, a surge in panic buying has led to strains in the supply system. Telengana LPG Distributors Association president Kalluri Jagran Mohan redy said that there was "no problem with respect to domestic cylinders. There is a regular supply also." He said the delay in the supply was caused by a 50 per cent increase in business.
In Kerala, restaurants have switched to using firewood stoves to meet demand. Samridhi@Kochi, a community kitchen, have turned to using firewood to keep the business running. The restaurant chain also had to cut its menu in half, providing only essentials. About 40 per cent of the state's restaurants have been shut down in the state on Friday as they are unable to switch to alternatives, G Jayapal, president of the Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHRA), told PTI.
LPG suppliers in Kerala were reportedly charging double the price for cylinders. The price of firewood has also increased in the last two days, Times of India reported.
Hotels and restaurants in Ajmer, Rajasthan, have also reportedly been forced to revert to traditional fuels.
In Kandavali East in Mumbai, residents say that they are facing delays in deliveries of LPG cylinders despite having booked them days ago.
Opposition MPs have now come out to say that the ground realities have been very different from what the centre has been claiming,
MP Sanjay Raut accused the centre of misleading the public over the availability of LPG and accused the Union government of lying.
“They should see the reality in Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and UP, where people are lined up in queues to buy LPG,” he said.
Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav said on Friday that the PM was being given wrong information regarding the availability of cooking gas. "They should see the reality on the ground, people are standing in long queues," he said.
Congress meanwhile staged a protest outside its headquarters in Delhi on Friday demanding the resignation of Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
G Ram Reddy, president-elect of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI), told Hindustan Times Real Estate, “At the moment, many businesses are still managing, but if the situation continues for a prolonged period, the pressure will increase. I do not immediately see a change in commercial rentals in such a scenario, but the crisis will certainly affect business activity. If restaurants and other establishments are forced to temporarily shut down, it creates employment challenges. The moment sales decline, and the situation drags on, some shops may even have to close down temporarily,”
