Mumbai, (Udaipur Kiran). India has signed its first-ever long-term Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) import contract with the United States, marking a major step towards strengthening the country’s energy security. Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced the development on Monday, calling it a “historic first” for India’s LPG sector.

Sharing the update on social media, the minister said Indian public sector oil companies have signed a one-year deal to import around 2.2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LPG from the US Gulf Coast for the contract year 2026. This volume represents nearly 10% of India’s annual LPG imports.

According to Puri, the new agreement marks a significant milestone as India continues to diversify its LPG sourcing. He noted that this is the first structured long-term contract involving US-origin LPG for the Indian market. The deal has been benchmarked to Mount Belvieu, a key global pricing point for LPG.

Teams from IOCL, BPCL, and HPCL visited the United States in recent months to hold discussions with major American LPG producers, which have now been successfully concluded.

The minister highlighted that India is one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing LPG markets and said the government remains committed to providing reliable and affordable LPG supplies, especially to households under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.

He pointed out that despite global LPG prices rising by more than 60% last year, Ujjwala consumers continued to pay only Rs 500–550 per cylinder, while the actual market price exceeded Rs 1,100. To protect consumers from price volatility, the Government of India absorbed a burden of over Rs 40,000 crore during the year.

Puri added that the new US import deal reinforces the government’s long-term efforts to secure stable and affordable energy supplies for Indian citizens.

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