Making Best of a Bad Bargain

05 March 2026

Shri Hardeep Singh Puri

Hon'ble Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas

Government of India, New Delhi

 

Subject: Iran's Blockade of Strait of Hormuz — India's LPG Clock is Ticking. Time to Accelerate Solar Cooking.

Respected Shri Puriji,

India currently holds approximately 25 days of LPG reserves — including stocks in transit — as stated by your Ministry just this week (March 3, 2026). With Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which over 80% of India's LPG imports pass, the clock is ticking for 33 crore Indian households that depend on the LPG cylinder for their daily cooking.

The Numbers That Should Alarm Us

Annual LPG import (FY25):  20.7 MMT  (~₹95,000 crore)

Household cooking share:  84% of total LPG  (≈17.4 MMT / year)

Domestic consumers:  33 crore households × 4.5 cylinders/year

LPG reserves on hand today:  ~25 days (per MoPNG, 3 March 2026)

Middle East supply share:  90–93% of imports — almost entirely via Hormuz

Every Dark Cloud Has a Silver Lining

Respected Minister, I write to you not in panic, but in hope. As the old wisdom goes: Necessity is the Mother of Invention. The Hormuz crisis, painful as it is, offers India a once-in-a-generation opportunity to liberate 33 crore families from LPG dependency — permanently — by accelerating the adoption of Solar Cookers and Battery-Powered Induction Stoves.

I have been advocating this transition for nearly a decade. My journey began with a simple question in 2017 and has since grown into a body of correspondence with multiple Union Ministers. I now humbly place this body of work before you.

My Previous Letters to Cabinet Ministers (Clickable Links)

The following blogs document my sustained advocacy — addressed to Ministers for Petroleum, Power, New & Renewable Energy, and Commerce — spanning 2017 to 2024:

[ 27 Nov 2023 ]  Searching for Battery for Solar Cooker?

[ 10 Nov 2023 ]  From Induction Stove to Solar Cookers: Missing Link

[ 10 Nov 2023 ]  Congratulations, Mathew Samuel

[ 25 Mar 2022 ]  A Battery Swapping Policy for Battery-Powered Solar Cookers?

[ 06 Oct 2023 ]  Electric Solar Hybrid Oven: Reliance New Energy Marketing Strategy

[ 03 Nov 2017 ]  Solar Chula? Some Unanswered Questions

[ 16 July 2018 ]  Solar Chulha: Where can I buy?

[ 26 Aug 2020 ]  Dear Shri Goyalji: How about a Solar Cooker?

[ 19 Sept 2020 ]  Time to "Talk the Walk"

[ 25 Oct 2020 ]  Not in one day: What about 3 years?

[ 03 Nov 2020 ]  Enough to entice Elon?

[ 15 June 2021 ]  Inscrutable are the ways of the Providence?

[ 25 June 2021 ]  Air Pollution Sources: And "How to save 2.5 Lakh lives"

[ 13 Nov 2021 ]  Congratulations, Dr Harish Hiraniji

[ Feb 2024 ]  Thanks Shri Modiji, from 250 Million Women!

[ Feb 2024 ]  Correction: Suryodaya Yojana

My Humble Suggestions to You, Shri Puriji

1.  Launch a Mission Solar Cooker on a war footing

Direct EESL (which already runs the National Efficient Cooking Programme) to procure and distribute 5 crore Solar Cookers / Battery-Powered Induction Stoves within 3 years — one per PMUY household first.

2.  Allow NIL import duty on Second-Life EV Battery Packs

Millions of decommissioned EV battery packs in the USA and EU can power solar cookers at half the cost of new batteries. A NIL-duty window for 3 years could kickstart a low-cost battery supply chain for solar cooking appliances in India.

3.  Create a Battery Swapping Policy for Solar Cookers

Just as battery swapping works for EVs, a network of community solar-charging + battery-swapping kiosks in villages can ensure 24x7 cooking energy — with zero LPG dependency.

4.  Mandate a 25-day Solar Cooker distribution target as a crisis buffer

If 25 days is the LPG cushion today, let us use those 25 days to lay the foundation for the next 25 years of energy independence for Indian kitchens.

Making the Best of a Bad Bargain

Respected Minister, India spends nearly ₹95,000 crore every year importing LPG — 90% of it transiting a chokepoint now controlled by a hostile power. The Hormuz crisis is not just a supply shock. It is a mirror held up to our energy vulnerability.

The good news is that India has all the ingredients for a solution: abundant sunshine, 33 crore motivated households, a visionary PM Surya Ghar Yojana, and a Minister who has already said 'Electric Cooking is one way to reduce dependence on imported sources.'

I look forward to your valued response.

With warm regards and deepest respect,

Hemen Parekh

www.hemenparekh.ai

Mumbai | 05 March 2026