India To Source 10% Of LPG Imports From US In 2026: Hardeep Singh Puri

Indian state-run oil marketing companies have finalised a one-year contract to source nearly 10% of the country’s LPG imports from the US Gulf Coast in 2026, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said on Monday.

The deal will cover around 2.2 million tonnes per annum and mark the first structured long-term contract for US LPG into the Indian market. The agreement comes at a time when both nations are exploring a broader trade package, and underscores India’s strategy of diversifying fuel sources to ensure affordable and reliable supplies for its expanding LPG consumer base. Energy has increasingly become a pillar of bilateral cooperation, with the US emerging as a key supplier of oil, LNG, and now LPG.

“One of the largest and the world’s fastest growing LPG markets opens up to the United States. In our endeavour to provide secure affordable supplies of LPG to the people of India, we have been diversifying our LPG sourcing,” Puri said on Monday.

The new contract is benchmarked to Mont Belvieu, the key pricing point for LPG in the US. Officials from IndianOil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum visited the US Gulf Coast over recent months to negotiate with leading American producers before concluding the deal.

Minister Puri highlighted that despite global LPG price spike of over 60% last year, Indian government continued to shield consumers, especially those under the Ujjwala scheme.

“Under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi Ji, our PSU oil companies have been providing LPG at the lowest global prices to all our mothers and sisters… Even as global prices soared, Modi Ji ensured that our Ujjwala consumers continued to receive LPG cylinders at just Rs 500–Rs 550 whereas the actual cost was over Rs 1,100. The Government of India incurred costs of over Rs 40,000 crore last year to ensure our mothers and sisters did not feel the burden,” he said in a post on X.

With nearly 10 crore households covered under Ujjwala, maintaining stable LPG supplies at steady prices remains a critical political and economic priority. This new agreement diversifies sourcing for the world's largest LPG market amid global uncertainties and aligns with ongoing US-India trade negotiations.

US pricing, around $330 per metric tonne, undercuts Middle Eastern benchmarks, supporting energy security for over 30 crore Indian households. India and the US have been in talks to sign at least one tranche of a bilateral trade agreement by the end of November this year.

The diversification comes with the context of sources in the Indian government having indicated that India could step up energy imports from the US to reach an agreement with Washington.

The past few months have seen Indian refiners increasing oil imports from the US, which has been seen as an indication that New Delhi is willing to buy more American energy amid trade pact negotiations.