By Herjinder
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.
A video uploaded on X from Maharajganj in Uttar Pradesh showed long queues at a petrol pump being informed by repeated loudspeaker announcements from a police vehicle that diesel sales would be restricted to five litres per customer.
Despite repeated government assurances, such reports raise questions about the actual state of fuel availability.
India’s vulnerability stems from a structural reality: we import nearly 88 per cent of our crude oil requirements and depend heavily on imported natural gas. US-Israel’s heedless war on Iran has severely disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy corridors. A significant share of India’s crude oil and nearly one-third of its natural gas imports transit through this narrow maritime route.
Reduced or no shipments at all from major suppliers such as Qatar and Abu Dhabi have already forced companies, including Petronet LNG, to invoke force majeure clauses. The result has been a combination of supply shortages, price volatility and growing uncertainty.
Compounding the problem is India’s limited strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) capacity of 5.33 million tonnes of crude. Reserves reportedly stand at 3.37 million tonnes — roughly 64 per cent of capacity. Even at 100 per cent, our reserves are worth national requirements for about two weeks.
The implications extend far beyond transport and cooking fuel.
Source: National Herald
Note: Shafaqna do not endorse the views expressed in the article
