Shehbaz says LPG mafia’s era is over, promises public subsidies from profits

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has declared that the mafia’s era is over, saying those who controlled the liquefied petroleum gas market must have earned billions of rupees. He said the government would use profits from new arrangements to provide subsidies to ordinary people.

Sharif said state-owned enterprises would compete with private importers in the LPG market. Locally produced LPG, meanwhile, would be offered for auction in lots.

The government would collect the resulting profits and direct them towards public subsidies, he added. His assessment of the mafia’s earnings was expressed as a likelihood rather than a precise accounting of how much had been made.

In a related report from Islamabad dated November 4, 2026, UrduPoint quoted Sharif as saying the government had ended decades of control by a mafia involved in liquefied natural gas imports. He alleged that those involved had earned billions of rupees before the government eliminated their hold.

The same report also described his plans for competition in LPG imports and auctions of locally produced supplies, with the benefits passed to the public through subsidies. Sharif further said that, with winter approaching, meetings were taking place every second or third day to address challenges caused by obstacles along maritime routes.