The conflict in the Middle East has caused widespread economic turmoil, with gas prices rocketing amid Iran's stranglehold on a vital shipping route.
11:43, Mon, Mar 16, 2026 Updated: 11:50, Mon, Mar 16, 2026
Restaurants have been urged to scrap deep fat frying and operate under reduced opening hours (Image: Getty)
The shockwaves of Iran's stranglehold on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz are being felt across India, forcing gas-reliant businesses to drastically scale back. Supplies of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) have majorly reduced around the world in recent weeks, amid the ongoing US-Israeli conflict with Iran. Thousands of kilometres away from the Middle East, the impact is being felt by Indian business owners including restauranteurs who have been forced to stop using deep fat fryers and crematorium operators, who can no longer use gas to burn their dead.
South Asia depends heavily on the Gulf regions for energy supplies, with India receiving around 60% of its LPG from the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, around 90% of which travels through the Strait. Households across India are also rushing to secure the increasingly scarce gas cylinders for home cooking, despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's insistence that there is "no need to panic".
Indian citizens have been pictured lining up for gas cylinders amid the supply chain volatility (Image: Pradeep Gaur/SOPA Images/Shutterstock)
The country's government has allowed citizens to use greater amounts of polluting fuels such as coal, wood and kerosene for cooking in a bid to offset the shortages, but the economy is continuing to struggle.
Manisha Shekatkar, chief engineer at the municipal corporation of Pune, who oversees the city's crematoriums, said they had switched from gas-based to electric furnaces to prevent bodies piling up.
She told the Financial Times: "The shortage of gas has really hit us."
The National Restaurant Association of India has also urged its 500,000 members to remove menu items requiring deep frying and operate under shorter opening hours to save energy.
Manpreet Singh, of the association, told the BBC: "The situation is dire. Cooking gas simply isn't available.
"A lot of resaurants have closed - some in Delhi, many in the south [of the country]. People are switching to coal and wood and electric cookers to keep kitchens going."
Haroon Sait, who runs a bakery and restaurant chain in the south Indian city of Bengaluru, said his trade has already taken a hit from the dwindling gas supplies.
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"We can only make coffee and nothing else," he said. "It's nothing less than pathetic. Businesses are going to suffer."
The Indian government is attempting to offset the crisis by ordering refineries to maximise LPG output for households, increasing domestic production by around 25%.
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