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40-day wait for LPG cylinder to 2-day delivery: A reality check across 12 states

New Delhi's Karol Bagh-based Akshay Dubey (name changed on request) had got his LPG cylinder refilled just before the Middle East war began on February 28. But as LPG supplies tightened and queues outside gas agencies grew longer, Dubey was reassured that he had 14 kg of cooking gas in reserve. But the reassurance vanished a few weeks later when he received news that his grandfather had died. Along with the grief came another worry. Thirteen days later, on April 10, his family is expected to host nearly 400 people for the for tehravi bhoj. Finding enough LPG cylinders for such a big gathering is now a challenge for him. Dubey eventually convinced his halwai to cook on coal after some resistance from the professional cooks as they are used to LPG stoves, not traditional fuels. The halwai agreeing to use coal, said he would still need at least two LPG cylinders. Dubey says those will now have to come from the reserve cylinders lying at home. While his family is struggling to feed 400 people at the funeral bhoj, many other Indians are struggling to feed just their families, and sometimes even themselves. The US-Israel-Iran war has disrupted LPG supplies across several countries. In India, the impact is visible in the long queues outside gas agencies and in households waiting for over a week for cylinders that earlier arrived in a day or two. Some reports suggest that because of the LPG shortage, some migrant workers were returning to their villages where firewood and traditional chulhas are easier to access. A month after the Middle East war began, and weeks after the government extended refill booking limits and prioritised household supply, has the situation improved? India Today Digital spoke to dozens of people across 12 states to understand the grounded reality. Are LPG cylinders now arriving on time? How long are the delays? Has the initial panic eased? And are cylinders still being sold on the black market? We in no way claim this to be an exhaustive study. This is at best a dipstick analysis of the time taken for delivery of LPG cylinders since they are booked. This story is about domestic consumers. Commercial users are facing a separate crisis altogether. The government had initially halted fresh commercial cylinder supplies. Scores of small eateries and dhabas, especially in cities, that could not shift to coal, wood or other fuels have shut temporarily. So, how are people coping with the cooking gas situation amid the war in the Middle East? In the national capital Delhi, the households in lower and middle-income localities, and those of migrants, are the hardest hit. While domestic LPG cylinders are available, people said delivery timelines have stretched sharply since the war commenced because of the choke at the Strait of Hormuz. This is the narrow passage in the Persian Gulf through which 90% of India's LPG imports have to pass through. While around 23% to 31% of Delhi's nearly 62 lakh households now have Piped Natural Gas (PNG) connections, a large section of the city-dwellers still depend on LPG cylinders. This is especially true in Delhi's villages, low-and-middle income colonies and unauthorised bastis, where many residents, including migrants, continue to rely on gas cylinders. A chunk of them rely on the black market because they lack the needed residential papers needed for an LPG connection. Karol Bagh-based, Bihar-native, Rahul Ranjan, who works as an office assistant in a bank, told India Today Digital that he had to wait for nine days after ordering a refill for his LPG cylinder. In the nine days after placing the order, Ranjan said, he had to visit the local Indane agency over five times to enquire about the delay in delivery. "'Aa jayega sir', was the only reply I got," said Ranjan, adding he was forced to visit the agency after his phone calls went unanswered. An owner of a popular dhaba in Noida Sector 22 said that he had booked an LPG cylinder for domestic use on March 9 which was delivered to him on March 17. "My gas agency is just four buildings away from where I live. But it took more than a week for the refill to arrive," the dhaba owner told India Today Digital on condition of anonymity. Things got even stranger for the Bhattacharya family living in the NCR's Faridabad. After booking an LPG cylinder refill in mid-March, seven days later they suddenly received a message saying that their refill had been delivered. But in reality, no cylinder had arrived. "We had to call the agency up. It was only on the eighth day that the cylinder was finally delivered," a member of the Bhattacharya family told India Today Digital, hinting that there might have been some wrongdoing or even an attempt at black marketing the booked cylinder. A Gurugram-based writer, who doesn't have an LPG connection and relies on the black market, said that he was quoted Rs 6,000 for a gas cylinder. Usually, the 14.2 kg LPG refill is sold on the black market for an additional Rs 200 in Delhi NCR. A cylinder, which costs Rs 914, would be procured at Rs 1,100, but now the sky seems to be the limit. Domestic consumers who earlier got cylinders in one or two days now report waiting close to a week or more. Several Delhi residents in low-income colonies say that though agencies are accepting bookings, they are asking people to wait longer than usual. The government has repeatedly clarified that refill rules remain unchanged and that people in urban areas can still book a new refill after 25 days. That's 45 days for customers in rural areas. These clarifications came even as people rushed to book refills amid the anxiety over supply disruptions due to the war in Iran. In adjoining Uttar Pradesh, the shortage is also visible in delayed deliveries. Customers of Varanasi's Shri Hanuman Gas Agency in Teiyabag and Vikas Gas Agency in Sigra, said that they were not facing problems with telebooking, but deliveries were delayed. A Varanasi-based retired Indian Army Colonel, whose family includes 15 members, told India Today that he has tried booking refills with both Indane and Bharat Gas, but the delay in delivery forced him to buy two cylinders on the black market. "Since ours is a joint family of 15 people, we need at least three cylinders a month. This is the first time I have seen such a crisis," the retired Colonel, seeking anonymity, told India Today Digital. In western Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly, Aditya Mehrotra, the owner of a cloud kitchen, told India Today Digital that in his area, "LPG cylinders are being delivered within four to five days of booking." He said he sees "delivery workers bringing cylinders almost daily in his DD Puram locality". Mehrotra, however, acknowledged that "black market prices for domestic cylinders have risen, and that some were trying to profiteer by exploiting people's panic." An Agra-based journalist, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that in the city a gas cylinder that earlier took two to three days to arrive was now taking 18 to 20 days. He added that cylinders are also being sold on the black market for more than Rs 2,000 above the regular price. In Karnataka, while the LPG supply crunch has had a limited effect in large areas, it is severe in some others, people said. In Bengaluru's SG Palya, a domestic help, Pooja Kumari, said the problem of gas cylinders was mounting. Kumari, who lives next to a gas agency in the SG Palya Market in Bengaluru's CV Raman Nagar, said, "When the news came that there could be a gas shortage, I booked a cylinder immediately, but it has been over 25 days, and it hasn't been delivered yet". "Earlier, it would be delivered within 2-3 days after booking. My husband checked if we could get a cylinder on the black market, but the prices are too high. In some places, it is Rs 2,500; Rs 3,500 in others. We can't afford it," Kumari told India Today Digital. Priya, a rural resident of Vijayapura district in northern Karnataka, said, "We haven't faced any major LPG crisis, but when the Iran war began, the buzz of potential LPG shortage triggered panic in our village. I witnessed the chaos outside the gas agency created by villagers". "However, there is no major problem with LPG supply. We are able to book cylinders, and the agency has assured us of delivering them in 25 days. I've also heard that some restaurants are procuring LPG cylinders for Rs 3,000-Rs 4,000 on the black market. Interestingly, in our village, even if there is no crisis, people are using firewood stoves to save LPG," Priya told India Today Digital. Mangaluru-based Harsha said, "There is an LPG crisis. We are receiving LPG cylinders after 30-45 days of booking from our gas agency. We consume boiled rice daily, and boiling the rice takes a lot of energy. My family and our neighbours have started using firewood stoves to cook some food items." Hasha said that several Mangalorians who were in the food business in different parts of the country were returning after shuttering their restaurants temporarily. Tamil Nadu appears to be relatively stable compared to many northern states, but delays are still visible in some places. Cuddalore-based Kalidass recalled that "the first two weeks of the war were total chaos." "Panic spread in the people of our town due to lack of information. Now the situation is normal here. We are receiving LPG cylinders in time," Kalidass told India Today Digital. The bigger problem in Tamil Nadu has been commercial supply, according to reports. Many small eateries and roadside food stalls have shifted to wood and coal because commercial LPG cylinders are not easily available. People in and around West Bengal's Kolkata, India Today Digital spoke to, described the situation as mixed. Most said they were able to book cylinders online without much trouble, but they reported a delay in delivery after bookings were made. Howrah-based MBA student Rumela Karar told India Today Digital that she was able to book a cylinder refill online last week. However, the delivery took much longer than usual. "It used to take 2-3 days before the war. It's now taking 10-12 days extra," Karar said. From New Barrackpore, government teacher Nandini Sanyal said she booked gas cylinder refills on two separate occasions in March. "The delivery for the refill order I made in early March took two days. But it took 10 days for the cylinder to be delivered in the second instance," she said. An entrepreneur from Sonarpur, Preetish Banerjee, said the delivery of an LPG cylinder refill last week took seven days, compared to the earlier two to three days. "A big number of LPG cylinders are being sold on the black market," he said. Patna-based Ragini Tiwari said that while the upscale areas of the city are better off amid the LPG crunch, she saw massive queues of people from poorer households in mohallas inhabited by low-income groups. Tiwari, who booked a refill on March 6, said it was delivered on March 12. Tiwari said that her househelp, who had shifted to LPG, thanks to the Centre's Ujjwala Yojna, is now using cow-dung cakes and firewood to cook at her home. "She is unable to book and can't afford a Rs 4,000-cylinder," Tiwari said. A gas-delivery agent from Bihar's eastern district of Purnea, told India Today Digital, "the wait-time between LPG cylinder booking and delivery has increased from three days to eight days." When asked if he could somehow arrange a cylinder unofficially, the Indane delivery agent said the war had made things far stricter. "There is documentation at every step now. Every cylinder is being accounted for. If even one cylinder is diverted, we could get caught. There is no chance of doing anything at our level," he said. "If you want one, it can be done by someone higher up," he said, hinting that black marketing was still taking place. A resident of Jharkhand's Dhanbad said that the delivery time of LPG gas cylinders in her city had increased from four days to a week. The Dhanbad resident also added that some families were now relying on wood and cow dung cakes for daily cooking. Ahmedabad-based architect Shivani Singh told India Today Digital that there was no shortage of gas in the city, as most places have PNG. "The main vendors are either Adani Gas or Gujarat Gas Limited," Singh said. "Very few people have LPG connections, so even if people need a cylinder, it is relatively more easily available," she said. Things are sailing relatively smoothly in Mumbai too, at least according to two people from two different suburbs who spoke to India Today Digital. From Mumbai's Goregaon East suburb, statistician and marketing executive Nikunj Sabharwal said his family has been able to procure three cylinders in three separate visits to the agency. He said he got them "almost as soon as the bookings were made." In Powai's Hiranandani area, security guard Ashok Ayyappan said that "while there are long queues at gas agencies in Chandivali, cylinders are available." Rajasthan and Punjab have not seen the kind of severe panic as reported from Delhi and parts of Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. However, delays and black market sales remain a concern. A homemaker from Punjab's Hoshiarpur district told India Today Digital that "delivery time in her area has now crossed 10 days". She said people who are panicking during the waiting period are paying Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 for cylinders on the black market. From Kota in Rajasthan, a resident told India Today Digital that after she was unable to book a cylinder online in mid-March, she was forced to go to the agency. Even then, the cylinder was delivered after seven days, the person said. However, a resident from Rajasthan's Pali district said things there were running smoothly. "There are no long lines or panic here. There is only a delay of one or two days in LPG cylinder delivery," the person said. So, to conclude, the situation in the first week of April has eased in some places after the initial panic in March. But there is definitely a supply-demand mismatch. Across states, bookings are going through, but deliveries are taking much longer than before. For several poorer households, the crisis is more pronounced as they cannot afford black market rates and are being forced back to firewood or coal chulhas. The burden is also uneven, with cities that have piped gas coping far better than places that rely entirely on LPG cylinders. A month into the Iran war, India might not be facing a massive LPG crisis, but for millions of families, getting hands on cooking gas cylinders has become a delayed process, and stressful in some cases.

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