-
India’s crude oil and gas system depends on a long chain: imported crude arrives by sea, moves into domestic refineries, gets converted into products like diesel, petrol, LPG and ATF, and is then distributed across pipelines, bottling plants, dealers and retail networks. The Times of India piece also notes that more than 40% of India’s crude imports, and nearly half of its LNG and LPG shipments, pass through the Strait of Hormuz, making that corridor a major risk point.
The structural reality is that India remains highly import-dependent on crude, even though it has built one of the world’s largest refining systems. The article says India now sources crude from around 40 countries, while its 23 refineries have a combined capacity of more than 258 million tonnes per year. That gives India a strong conversion and export base, but not insulation from global price shocks or shipping disruption.
The most visible household example is LPG. TOI reports that India consumed about 3.03 MMT of LPG in January 2026 and had more than 33 crore active domestic LPG connections as of January 2026, including over 10 crore under Ujjwala. That means energy security is not only a macroeconomic issue, it directly affects kitchens, transport networks and daily household reliability.
The article also highlights two transition signals: natural-gas demand has been uneven because of higher LNG prices and weaker industrial demand, while ethanol blending in petrol reached 19.99% in January 2026, effectively hitting the 20% target. Together, these show that India is trying to reduce oil dependence, but the core fuel system still remains tightly linked to crude imports and geopolitical chokepoints.
Why it matters:
Supply chain resilience in energy is not only about how much fuel a country consumes. It is about how securely it can import, refine, reroute, bottle and distribute that fuel when prices spike, sea lanes tighten or regional conflict disrupts normal flows.
