MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
In India, people are dealing with a cooking gas shortage because of the war on Iran. Supply chains to the country have been disrupted because of blocked traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. The shortage is hitting households, restaurants and factories, which use natural gas as well. NPR's Omkar Khandekar reports from Mumbai.
OMKAR KHANDEKAR, BYLINE: Chirag Parmar (ph) runs a cooking gas supply agency in suburban Mumbai. He says he worries about the safety of his delivery boys these days.
CHIRAG PARMAR: (Non-English language spoken).
KHANDEKAR: He says, "every time they step out, customers turn into a mob demanding refills." Hundreds of millions in India cook using liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG. More than half of it is shipped from the Gulf countries, such as Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. After Iran's blockade of the usual shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, many Indians panicked and started stocking up on gas canisters. That came at a cost.
PARMAR: (Non-English language spoken).
KHANDEKAR: Parmar says families have been coming to him for days, begging for cooking gas. The shortage also affected some laundromats and factories, such as manufacturers of glass and ceramic. Officials in the city of Pune have also shut down a gas-powered crematorium.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Chanting in Hindi).
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting in Hindi).
KHANDEKAR: Opposition parties chanted slogans outside the Parliament last week and accused the prime minister of disappearing along with the gas canisters. They were giving voice to widespread anger with good reason. Amit Bhandari is an energy expert from the Mumbai-based think tank Gateway House. He says part of the problem is India does not have enough storage facilities for cooking gas.
AMIT BHANDARI: It's expensive, and it's not that you make an investment once. You have to maintain that equipment. You have to keep inspecting those tanks periodically.
KHANDEKAR: The government first said there was no shortage, but then it hiked prices, started importing from countries outside the Gulf region, ordered more local production and cut back supplies to commercial and industrial units. So the crisis only shifted from households to restaurants and community kitchens.
(SOUNDBITE OF HORNS HONKING)
KHANDEKAR: This week, Mumbai's popular food street in Khar looks grim. Restaurant signs explain that shutdowns or a new price rise are because of the gas shortage. Shoel Badu (ph), who runs a 70-year-old Sahil restaurant, says his kitchen had to trim the multi-course Ramadan menu to just four items.
SHOEL BADU: (Speaking Hindi).
KHANDEKAR: "One chicken, one lamb and one vegetarian." Earlier this week, Iran's ambassador to India said his country would allow some fuel ships through the Strait of Hormuz to India. But Shoel says the gas crisis will only end once the war does, and he has a request for the U.S. government.
BADU: (Speaking Hindi).
KHANDEKAR: "Try having a dialogue," he says. Omkar Khandekar, NPR News, Mumbai.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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