India: Workers face 'immediate' impacts of war on Iran, as gas disruption leads to reduced & suspended operations
‘Waiting for days’: India feels impact of gas supply chain disruption amid Iran conflict
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“We are eating just one meal a day from outside. I’ve had to ask neighbours to help boil milk for my baby.”
Rani’s experience is being echoed across south Asia, where disruption to supplies of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) triggered by the closure of the strait of Hormuz has pushed the region into its worst gas crisis in decades. Prices have surged, industries have been forced to scale back or shut, and anxiety is spreading.
Before the Iran conflict in effect shut the narrow maritime chokepoint, it carried about a fifth of global fuel shipments, much of it bound for Asia.
In India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka... the impact has been immediate...
India imports about 60% of its LPG, 90% of that routed through the strait of Hormuz. Only two cargoes have made it through since the strait closed, a fraction of daily demand...
Restaurants and hotels are among the worst hit. Industry bodies estimate that about a fifth of eateries in Mumbai have either shut down or scaled back operations, with similar disruptions reported in other cities...
The impact is now spreading across industries, with gas-dependent plants beginning to scale back or shut operations. In Morbi, Gujarat, the world’s second largest tile manufacturing centre, production is close to a standstill. Nearly 450 of the town’s 670 ceramic units have shut and about 430 factories have decided to suspend operations...
For workers, the fallout has been immediate...
“The manager told us the factory is shutting and we won’t be paid,” he said. “We were already struggling to get cooking gas here. Without work, we can’t survive – how will we eat?” He said the situation felt reminiscent of the Covid-19 lockdown, when thousands of workers were forced to leave industrial towns and return home...
It is the poorest who are hit hardest. Ajay Mandal, 30, said he felt relief after his first proper meal in 24 hours at a government-subsidised canteen...
“If this crisis worsens, many poor people will go hungry,” said the construction labourer...“I earn 500 rupees a day. A gas cylinder that costs around 900 rupees is now being sold for 4,000 on the black market. Even a roadside meal that used to cost 30 rupees has doubled. How are we supposed to survive?”...