The Indian government has approved a "Scheme to Incentivize Domestic Piped Natural Gas Connectivity" aimed at increasing the supply of cooking gas to households. This move comes as the Iran war has disrupted the supply of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the Middle East, leading to soaring import costs. The scheme, effective September 1, 2026, aims to accelerate the expansion of piped natural gas (PNG) connections by providing city gas distributors with additional low-cost domestic natural gas. This will allow them to replace expensive liquefied natural gas (LNG) currently procured for their compressed natural gas (CNG) business, thereby reducing overall gas procurement costs. Currently, about 60% of Indian households rely on LPG as their primary cooking fuel, and before the war, 90% of India's LPG imports passed through the Strait of Hormuz.