Dr Sourya Rongala, Asst. Professor, Paari School of Business, SRM University-AP
By evening, the real India gathers around street food carts.Office workers, students, delivery riders, all orbiting around a single stove. That small blue flame is what keeps the informal food economy alive. And right now, that flame is flickering.
Across several Indian cities, street food vendors are struggling to access commercial LPG cylinders. What sounds like a supply-chain issue at the macro level is translating into something far more basic on the ground: stoves going cold, carts staying shut, and daily earnings collapsing.
A Crisis You Don’t See in Headlines
India depends heavily on LPG imports. Close to 60% of the gas requirement is through imports, making it vulnerable to global disruptions. Recent geopolitical tensions have tightened supply, and the effects have been immediate.
But here’s the disconnect while policy conversations revolve around imports and reserves, the first real impact is felt not in industries or households, but in the informal economy.
Street vendors don’t have backup systems. No alternate fuel lines. No storage capacity. No negotiating power.If the cylinder doesn’t arrive, the business doesn’t run.
Reports from cities like Lucknow and Bhopal suggest that many vendors have already begun shutting shop temporarily. Some have left for their hometowns. Others are cutting operating hours just to stretch whatever gas they have left.
Rising Costs, Shrinking Margins
Even when LPG is available, it’s no longer affordable.Commercial cylinder prices have surged, and in some cases, vendors are turning to informal channels where prices are significantly higher. For businesses that run on thin margins, this is not a manageable increase, it’s a breaking point.
The immediate response? Pass the cost to the customer!!!
Across cities, consumers are reporting noticeable price hikes in everyday street food — from tea to tiffins. What was once the cheapest meal option is slowly becoming less predictable in price.
This matters more than it seems.Street food in India isn’t just about taste or culture. It’s a critical layer of urban affordability. When that layer becomes unstable, the ripple effects travel quickly — especially for low-income consumers who rely on it daily.
An Unequal Ability to Adapt
There’s a clear divide emerging in how different players are responding.Larger restaurants, despite facing the same LPG shortage, are experimenting with alternatives like induction cooking, temporary fuel shifts, even scaled-down menus.
Street vendors don’t have that luxury.Switching to electric cooking requires equipment, stable power access, and upfront investment, these are out of reach for most small vendors. Using firewood or coal is often restricted in urban areas and brings its own regulatory and environmental challenges.So while formal businesses adjust, informal ones pause — or disappear.
More Than Just Food at Stake
The impact doesn’t stop with vendors.The street food ecosystem supports a wide network of suppliers, helpers, transport workers, even app-based delivery riders who depend on local food outlets. As stalls shut down or reduce operations, incomes across this chain start to shrink.
Some reports suggest food delivery volumes have already dropped in affected areas. That signals something larger: this is not just a supply issue, but a demand-side contraction triggered by operational disruption.
What This Reveals
This moment exposes a blind spot in how urban systems are understood.Street vendors feed millions of people every day, yet they remain largely invisible in formal planning. In times of crisis, LPG supply is prioritised for domestic consumers which is understandable, but it leaves micro food businesses exposed.The assumption seems to be that informal systems will somehow adjust.But they don’t always. Sometimes, they simply stop.
The Bigger Question
If a disruption in fuel supply can stall such a large part of the urban food economy, then the issue isn’t just LPG.It’s dependence.
India’s cities run on informal systems that are efficient but fragile. They work well in stable conditions, but they don’t absorb shocks easily.The current LPG shortage is a reminder of that fragility.
When the Stove Goes Silent
A street vendor closing early doesn’t make news. It’s too small, too routine.But multiply that by thousands across cities, and the story changes.It becomes a story about livelihoods interrupted, food becoming less accessible, and an entire layer of the economy quietly slowing down.
And it all starts with a missing cylinder…
