India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged states to curb black marketing and avoid panic amid soaring black-market prices of cooking gas in India’s capital. The ongoing war has strangled supplies of LPG, which is used for cooking and predominantly sourced from the Middle East.
In New Delhi, poorer families are being pushed back to wood and coal due to the high costs of LPG cylinders. For instance, a 14 kilogramme cylinder now costs nearly as much as an entire monthly salary of 6,000 rupees ($53). This shift is raising health risks and worsening air quality in the highly polluted megacity.
Activists argue that the issue lies more about access than supply. Many migrant workers lack documentation for subsidised LPG and rely on informal markets where hoarding has pushed up prices. Despite no major shortage, prices have increased two to three times due to black market activity.
New Delhi, along with its sprawling metropolitan region of 30 million residents, is often ranked among the world’s most polluted capitals. Burning wood, coal, and biomass indoors exposes families to high levels of smoke and toxic particles, increasing the risk of respiratory illnesses. Women and children are especially vulnerable as they spend more time near cooking areas.