NEW DELHI:&nbsp;Domestic migrants in India, who often travel thousands of kilometers for work are weighing up whether to leave New Delhi for good as energy resources choked by the US-Israel war on Iran war dwindle. Black market prices of cooking <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/fuel-panic-deepens-indias-economic-strain" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">gas cylinders</a> have soared beyond what laborers living hand-to-mouth can earn and, even if energy flows resume soon, they worry it could take weeks for the impact to filter down to them. Crouched over smoky fires at dawn, using wood shavings to cook a breakfast of flat bread chapatis, dozens of construction workers say they are ready to return home. &quot;We will just leave when (the) money finishes,&quot; said Milan Kumar Mondal, who will make the 1,100-kilometer (685-mile) journey home to Katihar in <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/panic-and-chaos-in-india-as-lpg-supply-dwindles-and-prices-surge" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bihar state</a>, when the last of his savings runs out.&nbsp;Millions of internal migrants&nbsp;India has more than 450 million internal migrants, according to the last census in 2011 and government estimates, forming the backbone of its informal economy. Many move seasonally from poorer states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to cities in search of construction, factory and daily wage work. The South Asian nation, heavily dependent on imported energy, including roughly 60% of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) needs, has seen supply chains strained by the war. And while the government says there is no overall LPG shortage, and is ensuring the most vulnerable receive cooking gas, migrants in informal settlements say they are left out. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">&#39;Savings uncertain&#39;&nbsp;</h2>Government rules mean a household can have only one registered LPG connection.&nbsp; For domestic migrants, that is back in their home village. Incomes are volatile and savings minimal, making them particularly vulnerable to sudden price spikes or supply disruptions. Mondal earns around 600&ndash;700 rupees ($6.50-7.50) a day for construction work but, with LPG prohibitively expensive, he is barely breaking even.&nbsp;Surge in prices&nbsp;Prices of cooking gas have surged by as much as five times on the black market, the only source he can access without formal paperwork. &quot;Earlier cooking gas was 80&ndash;90 rupees ($0.86-0.97) per kilogram... Now it is 300&ndash;400 rupees, even 500 ($5.40),&quot; Mondal said. Workers&#39; union leader Rajiv Kumar Pandit said swaths of migrant workers had left the city already. &quot;The situation is very bad,&quot; he said. &quot;Wages are irregular, gas is not available, and prices are extremely high.&quot; Ramesh Kumar Mahto, also from Bihar, is ready to return home once he is paid. &quot;I don&#39;t think I will return to Delhi,&quot; he said. &quot;The crisis has made savings uncertain,&quot; he said.<h2 style="line-height: 2;">&nbsp;</h2><h2 style="line-height: 2;">&#39;What is left?&#39;&nbsp;</h2>Many initially turned to firewood gathered from city forests or wood shavings from construction sites, but even the cost of that has now nearly doubled. &quot;We were cooking on firewood for the first 15 days of the crisis,&quot; said Suresh Kumar from Bhagalpur district, noting that they cannot cook when it rains.&nbsp; &quot;Now, even wood has become expensive.&quot; Electric stoves are not an option, since their power connection in tight-packed rooms is often only strong enough for a single charging point. &quot;If we use a heater or induction stove, the fuse goes off, the wiring burns,&quot; Kumar said. Food stalls are unaffordable -- or mean the worker spends all that they earn. &quot;A laborer needs three meals a day because the work is heavy -- lifting stones, working on multi-story buildings,&quot; construction worker Lalu Singh said. &quot;If we spend almost everything on food, what is left? It is better to go home and be with your family&quot;. Work is uncertain back in their villages -- farming on leased land or daily wage labor -- but living costs are lower and families share expenses. Five-month pregnant Naseema, in Delhi&#39;s Noor Nagar district, gathers wood from scrubland to cook for her six children and husband. &quot;If we can manage with the wood, we will,&quot; she said. &quot;After that, what option do we have -- than to return back to our village?&quot;

India

The South Asian nation, heavily dependent on imported energy, including roughly 60% of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) needs, has seen supply chains strained by the US-Israel war on Iran.

Domestic Indian migrants weigh return home in energy crunch

MORBI, India: Blazing-hot kilns in India&#39;s $6.5 billion ceramics manufacturing hub employing hundreds of thousands of people have gone cold, shut down in an energy crunch caused by the US-Israel war on Iran. At a cavernous facility in Morbi, in India&#39;s western Gujarat state, a 200-meter-long propane-powered kiln that normally fires clay nonstop is silent. It is one of hundreds of plants supplying homeware tiles across the world that have been forced to suspend operations.<figure class="fr-media"><img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/5d904ce8-a54e-43b7-9a43-1c4eb79346d5-AFP__20260329__A4TV6EZ__v1__MidRes__IndiaWarIranUsIsraelEnergy.jpg" alt="AFP__20260329__A4TV6EZ__v1__MidRes__IndiaWarIranUsIsraelEnergy.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 1000px;"><figcaption class="caption-cover-image text-sm text-gray-600 italic">Morbi, India: A man walks out the Eden Ceramic City mall housing outlets of ceramic tile manufacturers and distributors, as it remains deserted amid propane gas supply constraints and global energy crisis, on March 26, 2026. (Photo: AFP)</figcaption></figure> Thick layers of dust smother giant grinding and pressing machines, while only a tiny crew of workers transfer the last batch made three weeks ago off snaking assembly lines and into trucks. &quot;We are suffering a lot,&quot; said Kishor Dulera, a tile unit proprietor who closed this factory and two others in early March, sending hundreds of workers home. India depends on imports for 60% of its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/fuel-panic-deepens-indias-economic-strain" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">liquefied petroleum gas</a>&nbsp;(LPG) demand. The overwhelming majority comes through the Strait of Hormuz waterway, which has been effectively blocked by Iran after US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic late last month sparked a broader regional conflict, disrupting global energy supplies. New Delhi has prioritized supply for households, shielding Indians who use it to cook food. That has squeezed the amount available for industrial use. Factories in sectors including stainless steel and plastic have cut back on production as a result. &#39;Disaster&#39;&nbsp;&quot;If the main raw material is disturbed, the whole industry is disturbed,&quot; Dulera told AFP. The ceramics hub at Morbi makes up 90% of India&#39;s total production and is one of the world&#39;s largest ceramic manufacturing centers, exporting tiles to countries such as the United States and Thailand. The industry at Morbi provides direct and indirect employment to nearly a million people, according to government statistics. More than 400 plants have closed after the gas supply chain was &quot;broken&quot;, said Manoj Arvadiya, head of the local manufacturing industry association. Keeping the kilns hot means plants operate around-the-clock -- and emergency shutdowns can damage machinery. &quot;It is a continuous process,&quot; said Arvadiya. &quot;You can&#39;t run it for two days and then switch it off for one day. It doesn&#39;t work like that.&quot; Hitesh Detroja said his now-shut Lexus Granito plant had produced 30,000 tiles per day, calling the closure a &quot;disaster&quot;. He said he has no income to pay his fixed costs and interest on loans of $74,000 each month. &quot;This crisis is horrible,&quot; Detroja said.&nbsp;&#39;Worried&#39;&nbsp;The ripple effects of the energy crisis have been felt throughout the Morbi ecosystem. &quot;Everyone is worried,&quot; said 29-year-old labourer Bunty Goswami, a migrant worker at a shut plant. &quot;We are confused about what to do -- whether we should go home, or not.&quot; India&#39;s government has boosted domestic LPG production, negotiated the passage of a handful of tankers and purchased new cargoes from Australia and Russia. That should, in time, ease supply constraints. Jitendra Aghara of Simpolo Tiles, one of Morbi&#39;s biggest manufacturers, has kept operating by buying propane at more than double the price it was before the war to ensure he fulfills customer orders. &quot;If now we suffer a loss for two to three months, in the future we will get it back,&quot; he said. The tile industry developed in Gujarat due to the availability of clay and good transport connections, but it relies on overseas energy to fire. Aghara said the previous abundance of LPG and natural gas meant that there had been few moves to fully develop and adopt electric or hydrogen-powered kilns. Indian corporate giants like Reliance Industries have big green hydrogen production plans, which could remove Morbi&#39;s import dependencies. But first, development is needed to ensure hybrid kilns can produce tiles of the quality that Morbi is known for. Aghara noted alternative fuels can&#39;t replace gas &quot;100% just yet&quot;.

India depends on imports for 60% of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) demand; the overwhelming majority comes through the Strait of Hormuz waterway, which has been effectively blocked.

Articles tagged with "Energy Crunch in India"

Domestic Indian migrants weigh return home in energy crunch

Indian tile makers hit by energy crunch from US-Israel war on Iran