Cooking Gas Shortage Spurs Fistfights, Firewood Use in India

Buyers queue for LPG at a depot in Noida, Uttar Pradesh on March 16. Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg Photo by Anindito Mukherjee /Bloomberg

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(Bloomberg) — The smoke rising from Babitha Sivadasan’s kitchen in rural Kerala carries a scent that belongs to her grandmother’s era.

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“I have started cooking with firewood,” said Babitha, who began rationing her half-empty cooking gas cylinder after failing to secure a refill from her Indian Oil Corp. distributor. “The agency hasn’t taken bookings in a week.”

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As the Iran war enters the third week and cooking gas becomes scarce amid a conflict-driven supply shock, some Indian homemakers are turning to practices of the past — a stark reminder of how geopolitics can reshape daily life in distant lands.

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In Thiruvananthapuram’s bustling Chala marketplace, desperation has spilled into crime: a 19-kilogram (42 pound) cooking gas cylinder meant for commercial use was stolen from a hotel in broad daylight. What began as a supply hiccup has escalated into panic buying, hoarding, and theft in India that’s the world’s second-largest LPG buyer.

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India, which imports most of its oil and depends on the Strait of Hormuz for nearly half its shipments, is among the hardest hit by Middle East volatility. Having scaled back Russian crude purchases under US pressure, New Delhi turned back to the Gulf — only to face stalled shipments, soaring costs, and a sliding rupee.

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Recent US concessions over Russian oil purchase have done little to address India’s immediate shortages: Liquefied Natural Gas and Liquefied Petroleum Gas. With over 90% of its LPG supplies coming from the Middle East, India’s kitchens remain exposed to all the supply shocks.

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The issue is being felt nationwide. In Raisen district of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, The Press Trust of India reported that consumers had blocked a main road after an agency failed to open. Hundreds had queued from nearly dawn, and by mid-morning tempers flared.

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Black Market

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In Sanpada, on the outskirts of India’s financial capital Mumbai, queues begin at 3 am, according to the Free Press Journal. The hospitality sector has been impacted as well, with over 20% of hotels in Navi Mumbai and Raigad suspending operations. On the black market, gas cylinders fetch upwards of 3,000 rupees ($32.5).

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Violence has followed. In Gorakhpur, a city in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, a scuffle at a gas distributor escalated into a fistfight last week when several men tried to jump the queue, forcing police to intervene.

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As much as 5% of organized restaurants have shut, according to the National Restaurant Association of India. Mumbai-based Millo, an upscale eatery in Lower Parel, is cutting back on Asian dishes like noodles and rice that consume more gas, founder Sujit Mehta told Bloomberg News.