India, March 15 -- The criticism being directed at the government over cooking gas shortages amid the ongoing global energy disruption misses a central paradox in India's energy transition. The very policies that expanded access to clean cooking fuel across the country have also increased the number of households dependent on the LPG supply chain, making supply shocks more visible than they would have been a decade ago.

India's cooking fuel landscape has changed dramatically since 2014. In his address at NXT 2026 in New Delhi on 12 March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted that in 2014 the country had about 14 crore LPG connections, meaning only around half of Indian households had access to cooking gas. Today that number has risen to ro...