Srinagar, May 30 -- By Malik Daniyal

On the morning of May 1, 2026, a notice went up at gas agencies across the valley. The price of a 19-kg commercial LPG cylinder had been revised overnight by Rs.993.

This was the single largest single-day revision in India's recorded LPG pricing history.

The cylinder that hotels, dhabas, and bakeries depend on now costs Rs.3,071.50, up from Rs.1,691.50 on January 1: an 82 per cent increase in four months.

The reasons for this extraordinary surge lie far from Srinagar, in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz.

The US-Israel military campaign against Iran, which intensified in early 2026, disrupted global energy markets and supply chains. The Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for nearly 20 per cent of th...