India runs on LPG. Not metaphorically literally. Across hundreds of millions of households, the cooking gas cylinder is the one thing that keeps kitchens going, and any disruption to that supply chain lands hardest on ordinary families, not on balance sheets. So when the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas quietly issued an order on August 13 assigning maximum LPG production targets to 24 refinery and upstream oil companies, it was not a bureaucratic footnote. It was the government pulling a lever it has been quietly building for years.
The combined production potential under this framework: 63.81 thousand metric tonnes per day (KTPD).
What the Order Actually Says
The August 13 directive amends the Petroleum Products (Maintenance of Production, Storage and Supply) Order, 1999, which is the Centre’s primary legal instrument for managing the production and distribution of critical petroleum products. The amended order introduces specific operational directions focused on LPG production and supply assigning each of the 24 companies a ceiling for how much cooking gas they can produce, and outlining what they are expected to do to get there.
Among the 24 companies, the breakdown spans 18 public-sector refineries, three private-sector companies, and three upstream producers. The public sector names are the familiar ones BPCL, HPCL, Indian Oil Corporation but it is the private players who account for a disproportionate share of the targets.
Reliance Industries sits at the very top with a specified LPG production potential of 18 KTPD the highest of any single entity in the framework. Behind it, BPCL’s Kochi refinery is pegged at 4.80 KTPD, and Nayara Energy at 4.48 KTPD. Together, these three companies alone account for 27.28 KTPD, which is nearly 43 percent of the national total under this framework. That is a striking concentration of potential, and it gives some indication of how much the government is banking on both private-sector capacity and specific refinery configurations to carry the load.
Infrastructure, Storage, and Evacuation
The order does not just assign numbers and walk away. It places a clear obligation on companies public, joint-venture, and private alike to develop and maintain adequate infrastructure for LPG storage, evacuation, and transportation, in quantities that correspond to their specified production targets.
This is a significant clause. Historically, one of the bottlenecks in India’s LPG supply chain has not been refinery output alone, but the downstream capacity to store, bottle, and distribute what refineries produce. By tying infrastructure maintenance requirements directly to specified production levels, the government is pushing companies to ensure that the pipeline from refinery gate to consumer door stays functional even during periods of demand surge.
That said, the order does not stop at maintaining existing systems. It explicitly requires companies to implement technically and economically viable measures to maximise LPG output beyond their current minimum producible quantities. The language here points to technologies that have gained attention in the refining industry for exactly this purpose.
Naphtha-to-LPG and Petro-FCC: The Technical Push
Two specific technological pathways are named in the order: naphtha-to-LPG conversion and upgrades of gasoline-based fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) units into petro-fluid catalytic cracking (PFCC) units.
These are not new technologies, but their inclusion in a government order of this kind gives them a formal policy push.
Naphtha-to-LPG conversion allows refineries to redirect naphtha typically used in the petrochemicals industry or blended into motor spirit into LPG output when domestic supply conditions require it. It is a flexibility tool, not a permanent production shift, but in a supply crunch it can be significant.
The move from FCC to PFCC is a more structural change. Petro-FCC units are designed to crack heavier feedstocks with higher LPG yields as a primary output, rather than treating LPG as a byproduct. Refineries that make this upgrade are essentially hardwiring more cooking gas into their output mix rather than optimising for other products. The government clearly wants more of that.
The Emergency Clause
Perhaps the most consequential part of the order is what it allows the government to do when it decides circumstances require intervention.
The Centre has explicitly retained the power to direct refiners, oil marketing companies, and upstream producers to ramp up LPG production for a specified quantity and for a specified period whenever it determines that higher domestic availability is in the public interest. Such directions can also include restrictions on alternative uses of input streams that would otherwise be needed for LPG production.
In plain terms: if the government decides that a supply situation is serious enough, it can order companies to shift their feedstock away from other products and prioritise cooking gas. Companies will be required to increase output within whatever timeframe the government stipulates.
This is a significant authority. LPG competes internally within a refinery against petrol, diesel, naphtha, and other products that companies often find more commercially attractive to produce. The ability to override those commercial decisions in the public interest has existed in principle under the Essential Commodities Act, but this order formalises a cleaner, more specific mechanism to do exactly that.
Half-Yearly Schedule Updates
The production schedule under the framework will be updated twice a year on January 1 and July 1 each year. These revisions will account for new refineries and upstream companies entering the system, as well as changes in infrastructure, technology, evacuation capacity, and distribution networks that affect how much output is realistically achievable.
This half-yearly cycle is worth noting. It means the framework is not meant to be a static document. As India’s refining capacity expands and as companies complete technology upgrades, their assigned potential under this order can grow accordingly. The government is essentially building a living register of national LPG production capacity.
Monitoring and Penalties
Implementation will be monitored by the Centre for High Technology (CHT), or another authorised agency designated for the purpose. Violations of any directions issued under the order will be punishable under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 which carries provisions for penalties, imprisonment, and seizure of goods. The inclusion of ECA teeth in the framework signals that the government is not treating this as advisory. Non-compliance is expected to carry real consequences.
Why This Matters Now
India’s Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has connected tens of millions of previously unserved households to LPG since 2016. That expansion has been a genuine social policy success by most counts, but it has also meant a much wider base of consumers who depend on stable cooking gas supply. Any disruption whether from global LPG price spikes, refinery shutdowns, or supply chain bottlenecks now affects a far larger population than it did a decade ago.
The government’s periodic concern about LPG availability has also been shaped by external factors. Global commodity markets, shipping disruptions, and the volatility in hydrocarbon prices following geopolitical events in recent years have all served as reminders that supply chains for petroleum products can be fragile in ways that domestic policy cannot always anticipate.
By setting production targets, requiring infrastructure investment, building in technology upgrade mandates, and retaining emergency direction powers, the Centre is constructing a more resilient domestic supply architecture for a product that households across the country rely on every single day.
For now, the 63.81 KTPD figure represents what the government believes the country’s current refinery and upstream footprint can produce at maximum potential. The real test of the framework will be how quickly companies move on the technology and infrastructure requirements, and whether the half-yearly update mechanism keeps pace with India’s growing refining capacity.
https://hindustanherald.in/lpg-production-targets-24-companies-6381-ktpd/