Soaring LPG Prices Force Migrant Workers To Leave Indian Cities And Return Home

2026-04-03 11:16:32

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) [Editor's Note: Follow Khaleej Times live blog amid US-Israel-Iran war for the latest regional developments.]

It's now a familiar sight at many railway stations in large Indian cities. Hundreds of workers can be seen - some with their families - leaving the metros and heading home to their towns or villages. Life is getting tougher at their temporary homes in the cities, mainly because of lack of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas), essential to churn out daily meals.

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Reports of 'reverse migration' are pouring in from Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Surat and even from other places such as Bhiwandi, the powerloom town in Maharashtra.

It is a virtual replay of events that happened six years ago when the Covid-19 pandemic spread across the country, forcing millions of labourers to head back to their homes.

“This reverse migration is happening across all major cities in India,” Nitesh Kumar Das, organising secretary of Gig Workers Association, told Khaleej Times. Most of these migrant workers in the big cities live in shanties and small tenements, sharing a room with several colleagues. They usually cook food at home, but now with the LPG crisis, they prefer to return to their families in the villages.

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Das says that many do not have LPG cylinders and eating out at restaurants is also prohibitive; worse, many restaurants, lacking their own LPG cylinders, are shutting down, forcing the reverse migration.

Not only are restaurants closing, even street vendors are not able to meet the requirements, points out Das.“Many restaurants and street food carts have shut down,” he added.

Expensive and difficult to get

Migrant workers have to pay hefty sums to buy their small, 5-kg LPG cylinders. What used to cost about Rs500 (Dh20) before the US-Israel-Iran war is now difficult to get even at three times the rate.

Similarly, the standard 14.2-kg cylinder, which cost about Rs900 (Dh35.5) is selling for as high as Rs4,000 (Dh158).

Many of the migrant workers are temporary employees hired by contractors. They lack basic statutory documents needed for getting an LPG connection and face a crisis, forcing them to return to their villages where they can cook on wood and coal-fired sigdis (traditional stoves).

In many cities, the migrant workers stand in long queues outside gas agencies, where they usually access 5-kg LPG cylinders, for which no documents are needed (unlike for the standard, 14.2-kg cylinders).

The wait now begins early morning and the smaller cylinders get sold out within a few hours, resulting in frustrated workers planning to pack their bags and return to their villages.

Work disruption

The LPG crisis is also creating problems for automobile manufacturers in the country, as many of the workers depend on the canteens for their food. With the LPG shortage, they find it difficult to get food in the canteens. The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) recently sought the help of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to tackle this crisis.

“The manufacturing facilities of Siam member companies collectively employ a large workforce engaged in multi-shift operations,” it said in a letter to the ministry.

“These workers depend on plant canteens as an essential service during long working shifts. Members have indicated that constraints in LPG availability for such canteens are beginning to impact their day-to-day functioning at certain locations. If the situation persists, it could potentially affect shift operations and, in turn, disrupt manufacturing activities and supply chains.”

Business groups and corporates are also concerned about the growing tendency of migrant workers to return to their original homes hundreds of kilometres away. Their absence could disrupt production and upset plans.