The LPG crisis is already an old story. In metropolitan cities such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, cooking gas cylinders can be obtained, despite delays and repeat trips to distribution centres. In smaller cities and towns, long queues outside LPG depots have become a familiar sight. Yet, it’s the larger picture that’s even more troubling.

Across India, households are being forced to tighten their belts, businesses are cutting back operations, and policymakers are scrambling to prevent a supply shock from turning into a full-blown economic crisis.

The first warning signs emerged in March. LPG and fuel shortages began affecting businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises. Industry associations reported that nearly 20 per cent of hotels and restaurants in parts of Mumbai had either shut down or drastically curtailed operations due to soaring energy costs and unreliable fuel supplies. In Gujarat’s industrial hub of Morbi, around 170 factories reportedly ceased operations, affecting close to one lakh workers.

For many small food vendors, survival meant adaptation. Many shifted from LPG to electric cooking systems. Sales of induction and infrared cooktops exploded. Daily sales that once averaged around 2,000 units surged to between one and two lakh units across the country.

But that ‘solution’ created a new problem.

With demand for electricity surging and fuel shortages affecting power generation, many cities and semi-urban areas are now experiencing prolonged power cuts in addition to routine load shedding. The shift from gas to electricity has merely transferred pressure from one stressed system to another.

Recognising the severity of the crisis, the Government of India invoked provisions of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, allowing authorities to divert natural gas supplies to designated priority sectors. Whether this intervention will prove sufficient remains uncertain. Shortages are now spreading beyond kitchens and factories.

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© National Herald