A few days ago, the government assured the people that India had 45 days of “rolling stock” in LPG, implying there were enough stocks and there was no need for panic. The implication came as a puzzle to many since India has rather limited LPG storage capacity and needs regular shipments from abroad to the extent of an average of one shipload of LPG arriving every day.

As per government data, India has a total LPG tankage capacity of some 1.6 million tonne of which some 53% is in import terminals, some 31% in bottling plants, 16% in refineries and related facilities. As per government data, this would account for some 17 days of consumption as per January 1, 2026 consumption figures, assuming all the tanks are full, no fresh LPG came in and none were produced in Indian refineries in that period. India has almost negligible long-term storage such as caverns unlike, say, Europe in the case of natural gas.

One could say that a few days can be added to the figure of 17 given the cutbacks in bulk LPG and commercial LPG supplies. There is always LPG currently under transportation as cylinders within India and that could be considered too.

Huge shortfall

Yet, this still leaves a large shortfall from the claimed figure of 45 days even if all the tanks are full, unless the government has considered the LPG on ships, which have been ordered and are on their way, as inventory. It is industry practice to consider certain types of import shipments as inventory though they may not be considered reliable buffer stocks. The term “rolling stock” usually applies to goods transported by trains.

More on the way

The Hindu has been able to track 15 LPG tankers that left various ports in the U.S. for India using open-source marine traffic data.

Crystal Explorer, which left Houston, is scheduled to arrive in Ennore, Chennai, on Friday (May 15), while the tanker Hannibal is expected to reach Mangalore on Saturday (May 16), as per marinetraffic.com.

The tanker Ethane Opal has discharged its cargo and has left the Dahej port on Thursday.

The LPG tankers Vega Sky and Jirisan Explorer are scheduled to arrive in Vishakhapatnam and Ennore respectively on May 22, as per marinetraffic.com. Jia Yuan (Dhamra) and BW Aries (Vishakhapatnam) are likely to reach India this month.

Future Ace, which set sail from the port of Nederland in the U.S., is now in the Bay of Bengal abutting the Odisha coast. While marinetraffic.com did not show its final destination, it is nearing the port of Dhamra.

Marine data show that the tankers Gas Planet, Pinza and Shergar, that have recently left the U.S., are likely to reach Vishakhapatnam in the third week of June. Ethane Pearl and Clipper Guardian are scheduled to dock at Dahej and Haldia respectively by mid-June or thereafter.

The combined deadweight of these 15 ships is 8.38 lakh tonne.

Among the 15 tankers, two vessels -- Ethane Crystal (bound for Dahej) and Badrinath (Mangalore) -- are going to Port Louis in Mauritius, where they are likely to refuel before heading towards India. According to Business Insider Africa, Port Louis has seen a boom in marine fuel sales after the surge in marine traffic around the Cape of Good Hope, effected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and threats of disruptions in the Red Sea.

On Thursday, LPG tanker Marshall Island-flagged Symi appeared to be sailing in the Gulf of Oman. The vessel has been in the Persian Gulf since early March, having loaded its cargo at Ras Laffan in Qatar. It was among the 20 ships marked for evacuation by the government since it was critical to India’s energy needs.

Reports said another LPG tanker, the Vietnam-flagged NV Sunshine has transited the Strait of Hormuz and is now heading towards India. It too had switched off its AIS while sailing through the chokepoint. The combined dead weight of the two vessels is 81,572 tonnes.

The vessels described above could carry more than 1 million tonnes of LPG but the list is not comprehensive. There could be more such vessels and spot purchases the government can make from vessels already loaded.

India’s post-war LPG consumption in March was some 2.4 million tonne -- a reduction of 6 lakh compared to normal months. Import shortfall was some 1 million tonne, which was made up by increased domestic production. By this account, 1 million tonne could add to another 12 days.