- Has your gas cylinder stopped too?
- 62 lakh connection block due to e-KYC and supply crisis
- What will happen now?
LPG e-KYC News : There is a big news regarding LPG connections in the country. Between April and August, the number of domestic LPG consumers has decreased by 62 lakh. According to oil ministry data, the number of active domestic LPG consumers in the country, which was 33.39 crore in early April, has declined to 32.77 crore by early September. (LPG e-KYC News)
Interestingly, this decline in the number of LPG consumers has been seen after a long time. Let us know the reasons behind this and this sudden drop in gas connections in detail here.
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How much has the number of LPG consumers decreased?
LPG connections in India have been steadily increasing over the past few years. At the beginning of 2015-16, there were approximately 148.6 million active LPG consumers in the country. This number has since increased steadily to 333.9 million by early 2027, which means that the number of LPG consumers has more than doubled.
But in 2027, the whole picture changed completely. Between April and August, the number of active customers declined by 1 percent. It is worth noting that the number of LPG consumers had fallen to 327.7 million till the beginning of September.
What is the reason for this?
There cannot be only one reason behind the decline in the number of LPG consumers. The ongoing war in West Asia has affected LPG supply, adding to India's woes. Before the war, 90% of India's LPG imports came from the Gulf region. Oil marketing companies have reduced new LPG additions due to increasing pressure on supply.
Has e-KYC also been affected?
Aadhaar-based biometric authentication is also being used to verify LPG connections. As of September 19, 274.3 million (89.9 percent) active domestic LPG consumers had completed their biometric Aadhaar authentication, according to government data. Those who have not completed it, may face problems. Hence, it can be said that gas connection and supply has been affected to some extent. Moreover, from October 1, 2026, this authentication will be required to book subsidized LPG refills at regulated rates.
Has the customer of Ujjwala Yojana decreased?
The decline in the number of LPG customers has also affected the Ujjwala scheme. According to media reports, the number of subscribers under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana has now declined by approximately 6 lakh to just 105.7 million. In FY 2025, India's LPG consumption is estimated at 31.3 million tonnes, while domestic production is around 12.8 million tonnes. As a result, the gap between demand and domestic production has to be met through imports.
So how will the cooking be?
People are switching from LPG connection to PNG. PNG is one of the reasons behind the drop in connections. In areas where PNG is available, the government and gas companies are encouraging people to switch from LPG to piped gas. By July of this financial year, approximately 600,000 new PNG customers were added, bringing the total number of PNG customers to 17.5 million. However, this shift to PNG accounted for only one-sixth of the 6.2 million drop in LPG customers.
Where has the biggest drop in LPG customers occurred?
According to media data, from the end of March to the beginning of September, South India saw the largest drop in LPG customers, which was approximately 2.63 million. After this, there was a decline of 16.2 lakh customers in West India and 1.5 lakh customers in North India. Eastern India also saw a decline of 3.4 lakh customers.
North India still has the highest number of LPG consumers. At the beginning of the month of September, there were approximately 9.93 crore LPG customers in North India, 7.98 crore in South India, 6.83 crore in West India and 6.75 crore in East India.
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