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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Commercial LPG 'evaporates' in Maharashtra

Mumbai : The short supply of commercial LPG cylinders turned ‘grim’ on Wednesday as hundreds of small and medium eateries – on whom the ordinary working Mumbaikars depend on for daily meals – shut down or drastically trimmed menus, on Wednesday.   With an estimated 50,000-plus hotels, restaurants and small food joints, the crunch is beginning to be felt severely, said Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) vice-president and Hotel and Restaurant Association Western...

Commercial LPG 'evaporates' in Maharashtra

Mumbai : The short supply of commercial LPG cylinders turned ‘grim’ on Wednesday as hundreds of small and medium eateries – on whom the ordinary working Mumbaikars depend on for daily meals – shut down or drastically trimmed menus, on Wednesday.   With an estimated 50,000-plus hotels, restaurants and small food joints, the crunch is beginning to be felt severely, said Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) vice-president and Hotel and Restaurant Association Western India (HRAWI) spokesperson Pradeep Shetty.   “We are in continuous touch with the concerned authorities, but the situation is very gloomy. There is no response from the Centre or the Ministry of Petroleum on when the situation will ease. We fear that more than 50 pc of all eateries in Mumbai will soon down the shutters. The same will apply to the rest of the state and many other parts of India,” Shetty told  ‘ The Perfect Voice’ .   The shortage of commercial LPG has badly affected multiple sectors, including the hospitality and food industries, mass private or commercial kitchens and even the laundry businesses, industry players said.   At their wits' ends, many restaurateurs resorted to the reliable old iron ‘chulhas’ (stoves) fired by either coal or wood - the prices of which have also shot up and result in pollution - besides delaying the cooking.   Anticipating a larger crisis, even domestic LPG consumers besieged retail dealers in Mumbai, Pune, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Ratnagiri, Kolhapur, Akola, Nagpur to book their second cylinder, with snaky queues in many cities. The stark reality of the 12-days old Gulf war with the disturbed supplies has hit the people and industries in the food supply chains that feed crores daily.   “The ordinary folks leave home in the morning after breakfast, then they rely on the others in the food chain for their lunch or dinner. Many street retailers have also shut down temporarily,” said Shetty.   Dry Snacks A quick survey of some suburban ‘khau gullies’ today revealed that the available items were mostly cold sandwiches, fruit or vegetable salads, cold desserts or ice-creams, cold beverages and packed snacks. Few offered the regular ‘piping hot’ foods that need elaborate cooking, or charging higher than normal menu rates, and even the app-based food delivery system was impacted.   Many people were seen gloomily munching on colorful packets of dry snacks like chips, chivda, sev, gathiya, samosas, etc. for lunch, the usually cheerful ‘chai ki dukaans’ suddenly disappeared from their corners, though soft drinks and tetrapaks were available.   Delay, Scarcity  Maharashtra LPG Dealers Association President Deepak Singh yesterday conceded to “some delays due to supply shortages” of commercial cylinders, but assured that there is no scarcity of domestic cylinders.   “We are adhering to the Centre’s guidelines for a 25 days booking period between 2 cylinders (domestic). The issue is with commercial cylinders but even those are available though less in numbers,” said Singh, adding that guidelines to prioritise educational institutions, hospitals, and defence, are being followed, but others are also getting their supplies.   Despite the assurances, Shetty said that the current status is extremely serious since the past week and the intermittent disruptions have escalated into a near-total halt in supplies in many regions since Monday.   Adding to the dismal picture is the likelihood of local hoteliers associations in different cities like Pune, Palghar, Nagpur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and more resorting to tough measures from Thursday, including temporary shutdown of their outlets, which have run out of gas stocks.

A Patient Investor

Vijay Kedia

Vijay Kedia is a celebrated investor who has amassed significant wealth through patient long-term investments. He entered the market at the age of 19 and has been active in it ever since. Kedia and his firm, Kedia Securities Pvt. Ltd., hold the significant stakes in numerous publicly traded companies. His interest in the stock market blossomed at the age of 14, leading him to start trading at 19. Initially, he attempted to profit from short-term trades but ultimately failed.


After a period, he moved from his hometown of Kolkata to Mumbai in pursuit of better opportunities. After unsuccessful attempts in speculative trading, he shifted his focus to long-term investment strategies. Faced with severe financial difficulties, Kedia chose to take control of his destiny.


It was in 1992, during a bull market phase, that he experienced a stroke of luck. This marked the beginning of Vijay Kedia's investment journey, starting with a modest investment of 35,000 in Punjab Tractors, a move that turned out to be a pivotal decision. Subsequently, in 2004 and 2005, he invested in three small-cap companies: Atul Auto, Aegis Logistics, and Cera Sanitaryware, which saw their values increase over 100 times in the next decade.


Kedia is a firm believer in the SMILE principle in investing, which stands for Small in size, Medium in experience, Large in ambition, and Extra-large in market potential. He emphasises the importance of finding companies with competent management, honest leadership, and promising products that are expected to outperform their competitors and the broader economy. He advises investing in these companies for a period of 10 to 15 years, a strategy he has successfully followed.


Kedia has lived by this philosophy and has amassed a fortune for himself. He has demonstrated that it is indeed possible to accumulate wealth in the stock market without resorting to Futures and Options trading. According to the latest data from Ticker, Vijay Kedia currently owns 15 publicly traded stocks. His net worth is estimated to exceed Rs 1500 crore.

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