The oil on Sushil Kumar’s wide iron tawa crackles loudly as he presses a buttered bun against the hot surface and flips a crisp potato tikki in the middle of Delhi’s bustling Lajpat Nagar market. It is late afternoon and customers are beginning to gather around his cart. But Kumar’s mind is not on the evening rush. “Agar cylinder mehenga hoga madam, hum jaise log kaise kamayenge? Kya aap 30 rupee ki bun tikki 80 mein logey?” he asks with a weary smile. (If the gas cylinder becomes expensive, how will people like us earn? Will you buy my Rs 30 bun tikki for Rs 80?)
Like thousands of street vendors across India, Kumar depends entirely onLPGto run his small business and feed his family. And as tensions in West Asia escalate into conflict, he fears the cost of keeping his stove burning may soon spiral beyond reach.
What may appear to be a distant geopolitical crisis often travels quickly through global energy markets. Wars in oil-producing regions disrupt supply chains, push crude prices higher and trigger a ripple effect across fuels derived from it, including LPG. For millions of Indians in the informal economy who rely on gas cylinders to cook food, run tea stalls or power small kitchens, these global shocks translate almost immediately into rising costs and shrinking incomes.
The uncertainty has also created room for a thriving grey market. At a local gas agency in Delhi, one employee quietly offered to “arrange” a cylinder immediately if needed. “Aapko chahiye toh main abhi kara deta hoon,” he said casually, knowing very well that such quick service usually comes with a tip. With supply becoming unpredictable, these agency guys say many customers are now willing to pay extra just to avoid waiting weeks for a refill.
Another agency worker from Noida, speaking on condition of anonymity, says the anxiety in the market is already visible. “Madam, peeche se cylinder nahi aa rahe. Waise sirf 60 Rs ka increase hua hai par black mein jiska jo mann aa raha hai, woh wohi le rahe hain,” he says. (Cylinders are not arriving through regular supply channels. Officially the price has increased by around Rs 60, but in the black market people are charging whatever they want.)
According to him, the situation is already spiralling. “Normal cylinder 2500–2600 ka bik raha hai aur commercial cylinder jo hotel restaurant walon ko 1700 ka milta tha, woh 4500 ka mil raha hai.” (Domestic cylinders are selling for ₹2,500–2,600 and commercial cylinders that restaurants earlier bought for around ₹1,700 are now selling for nearly ₹4,500.)
The ripple effects are being felt far beyond Delhi’s street stalls. In Bengaluru, a hotel reportedly shortened its menu on Tuesday and served only coffee and tea due to a shortage of commercial LPG cylinders.
For families already living on fragile margins, the uncertainty is deeply unsettling. Tara Rani, a mother of five from Shaheen Bagh in New Delhi, cooks in several households to earn a living. In the narrow lanes of her basti, whispers that LPG may soon become unaffordable are spreading quickly. “It seems like we will have to go back to the chulha,” she says anxiously. “My madam gave me an electric burner but I cannot afford a heavy electricity bill. I have five children who go to school.”
Even small entrepreneurs who run home kitchens are worried. Pratibha Ray, who operates a Bengali cloud kitchen in CR Park, says LPG costs directly affect how much food she can cook and sell each day. “I try to keep my prices nominal even though ingredients like mutton have already become so expensive,” she says. “But if LPG becomes costlier or the supply becomes irregular, I might have to depend more on electrical appliances like a rice cooker or induction stove. That will increase my electricity bill, but what option will we have?”
For street vendors, domestic workers and small food entrepreneurs, wars fought thousands of kilometres away rarely feel abstract. They show up in the price of cooking fuel, in the fear of empty cylinders and in the daily calculations of whether a small business can survive another week. And for vendors like Sushil Kumar, standing over a sizzling tawa in one of Delhi’s busiest markets, the question is painfully simple: how long can he afford to keep the stove burning?
Source: India Latest News, Breaking News Today, Top News Headlines | Times Now
