Kathmandu. India has lifted a ban on commercial liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as energy supplies eased due to the war in the Middle East.

The Indian government has lifted emergency curbs after the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, saying that energy supply has improved.

The oil ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the ban on non-domestic packaged LPG had been lifted and supplies had been restored to pre-crisis levels in the Middle East.

According to the ministry, bulk LPG supplies, which were stopped at the beginning of the crisis, have also been restored to 50 percent of their previous consumption.

India, the world’s most populous country, is the second largest importer of LPG. Since most of the LPG used in India is imported from Middle Eastern countries, the regional conflict had a direct impact on energy supplies.

The Strait of Hormuz, which transports one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas, has been affected since late February after the US-Iran war broke out.

Iran and the United States have agreed to reopen the strategic waterway to improve energy shipments via Hormuz. Since then, India has gradually started returning the supply chain to normalcy.

During the energy crisis, the government had also increased the price of LPG used by millions of households. India last month approved an estimated four billion U.S. dollars worth of coal gasification expansion plan to ease supply chain pressures caused by the war.

The supply disruption in the Gulf region not only put pressure on India’s energy security but also on the overall economy. It also affected the economic growth projections. Now, with the improvement in power supply, the government has started the process of gradually returning the market to normalcy.