# India weighs gas levies to help fund planned strategic fuel reserve 2026-08-05T23:13:49+00:00 | Business & Economy | Indian Opinion Desk India may charge consumers of cooking gas and natural gas to help pay for a planned 42 billion dollar strategic fuel reserve, according to two unnamed sources cited by Reuters and carried by The Hindu. The plan follows supply disruptions from the Iran war, and would for the first time extend India's strategic stockpiles beyond crude oil, aiming to cover roughly two months of crude and liquefied natural gas demand and six weeks of LPG consumption. The sources said the petroleum ministry is weighing a levy of 1.29 rupees per kilogram of LPG, projected to raise about 460 million dollars a year and add around 18 rupees to a domestic cylinder, alongside a 1.43 rupee per standard cubic metre levy on natural gas expected to bring in roughly 1 billion dollars annually. Crude reserves would keep being funded by the federal government, and how the new levies would be collected was not specified. The Ministries of Petroleum and Finance did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The entire account rests on two people identified only as sources with direct knowledge to Reuters, and neither the petroleum ministry nor the finance ministry answered Reuters' request for comment, so this is a plan under internal discussion rather than an announced policy. Reporting the roughly 18 rupee cylinder increase alongside the larger 460 million and 1 billion dollar annual totals shows the household impact is only part of a much bigger revenue plan, and the sources do not say how either levy would actually be collected, a detail that would shape who ultimately pays. A formal announcement from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, or any public response to these figures, would be the first confirmation that the plan exists as described. ## Coverage - www.thehindu.com Tags: India, Reuters Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/india-may-charge-gas-users-to-fund-planned-42-billion-fuel-reserves-sources-say/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/india-may-charge-gas-users-to-fund-planned-42-billion-fuel-reserves-sources-say/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.