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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

MGL imposes 20 pc gas cut on bakeries

Soon, Mumbai to starve of vada-pav, pav-bhaji Mumbai: The city of dreams fueled by vada-pav and pav-bhaji could soon face a nightmarish food crunch. Amid the ongoing commercial LPG crisis, Mumbai’s piped natural gas (PNG) supplier Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL) has imposed a 20pc cut in gas offtake by bakeries, forcing scale down of production of laadi-pav, breads and other bakery staples that feed millions daily, plus an ominous price hike soon. The MGL directive follows a central order (March...

MGL imposes 20 pc gas cut on bakeries

Soon, Mumbai to starve of vada-pav, pav-bhaji Mumbai: The city of dreams fueled by vada-pav and pav-bhaji could soon face a nightmarish food crunch. Amid the ongoing commercial LPG crisis, Mumbai’s piped natural gas (PNG) supplier Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL) has imposed a 20pc cut in gas offtake by bakeries, forcing scale down of production of laadi-pav, breads and other bakery staples that feed millions daily, plus an ominous price hike soon. The MGL directive follows a central order (March 9), calling upon all bakeries to restrict their gas consumption to only 80 pc of their average usage over the past six months. The new rule came into effect from March 12, immediately sending alarm bells ringing across Mumbai’s panicky bakery network. In a missive to bakery owners, MGL also indicated that PNG prices would be revised shortly due to “gas pooling” arrangements, with the final rates to be announced after consultations with suppliers and the government. It further warned that any bakery exceeding the new consumption cap could face penal tariffs or even abrupt disconnection of gas supply. For hundreds of bakeries already grappling with a crippling shortage of commercial LPG cylinders, the move served to fuel the prevailing uncertainty. “This could virtually paralyse Mumbai’s food chain, hitting the common masses worst,” warned Khodadad Irani, President of the Indian Bakers Association (IBA). “There are nearly 300 registered bakeries in South Mumbai alone and around 1,000 across the city. Together they produce almost half the city’s daily requirement of around 70 lakh laadi-pavs. More than half of these bakeries depend on LPG to fire their ovens. With LGP supplies disrupted and now PNG curtailed, many may be forced to shut down within days,” a glum Irani told ‘The Perfect Voice.’ He explained the staggering implications of the potential disruption round the corner - on average, each bakery churns out around 1,500 trays (laadis) of pav every day, employs 30-50 workers per unit, and outside the flaming ovens, an entire informal economy thrives on the humble pav. Two Lakh Workers Nearly two lakh delivery workers ferry fresh bread across the city each morning on bicycles and motorcycles, supplying to all from roadside stalls to high-end eateries and corporates. Besides, over six lakh vendors run small stalls selling the city’s beloved yummies - vada-pav, samosa-pav, bhajiya-pav, usal-misal-pav, pav-bhaji, dabelis. “Under such a scenario, if bakeries pause or shut down, there will be huge consequences. Not only will common people suffer, but close to a million livelihoods linked to this ecosystem could be hit,” Irani pointed out. He reminded the authorities how bakeries remained operational during the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring a steady supply of bread and pav when Mumbai reeled under lockdown. “We kept our ovens running then despite enormous risks, to ensure Mumbai would not go hungry. But now we are facing a dire fuel shortage, and until commercial LPG quotas are normalized, we simply cannot continue operations,” Irani said grimly. With desperation creeping in both among the bakers and their customers, some bakeries have begun buying LPG cylinders on the black market at three to four times the official price, and others are allegedly diverting domestic cylinders to power their industrial ovens. Ironically, the sector had only recently initiated a painful transition to cleaner fuels - following court-mandated environmental directives in 2025 - by scrapping their traditional coal or wood-fired ovens to invest in PNG-LPG-based systems, or electric powered ovens. “Most of us complied with the shift to eco-friendly fuels. But now those very fuels are scarce. If the situation is not resolved quickly, Mumbai could soon wake up to a shocking reality - a city without pav,” Irani predicted. Neighbourhood bakers fret Local bakers say the crisis threatens not only the supply of laadi-pav but a wide range of popular bakery products that have a ready market. They include: sweet bun-pav, tutti-frutti pav, kharis, rusks, crunchy bruns, toasts, puffs, pastries, brownies, cupcakes, nankhatais, cookies, mini-pizzas, unbranded biscuits, et al. “Mumbai is a crowded city. It cannot survive without bakeries running 24x7. Many people eat only one proper meal at home and rely on street foods and snacks outside. Everything depends on steady fuel supply. If bakeries stop, the entire food chain - from corporate canteens to school kitchens and mass caterers - will be doomed,” fumed a contract baker Mohsin Alvi.

Muslim Mistrust

Updated: Nov 15, 2024

Muslim Mistrust

With barely a week left for the November 20 Assembly elections, a growing sense of disillusionment is sweeping through Mumbai’s Muslim community. Constituting roughly 20 percent of the city’s population, Muslims hold sway over key constituencies in areas like Byculla, Mahim, Malad and Dharavi. Yet, despite their electoral clout, Muslim voters find themselves facing a stark underrepresentation on the candidate lists of both the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). This frustration, compounded by unmet expectations from the MVA, whose support Muslims had decisively swung in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, is likely to shape the outcome of the upcoming vote.


There are around ten Assembly seats in the city with a Muslim majority or sizeable Muslim population (over 25 percent). However, the representation of Muslims on the candidate lists of the state’s major political parties has remained woefully low, sparking a growing sense of alienation among the community. The Congress has fielded just four Muslim candidates while the ruling NCP led by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar faction has nominated a handful. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) has fielded just one Muslim candidate - Harun Khan in Versova – despite the fact that the minority community had enthusiastically gravitated towards Thackeray in the Lok Sabha polls in May-June this year.


Despite the MVA’s claims of inclusivity, the lack of fresh Muslim faces has left many voters feeling let down. In Mumbai, many had hoped for more than just token representation from parties they had rallied behind during the 2024 Lok Sabha election, where the MVA, bolstered by significant Muslim support, won four of the six seats in the city. However, as the Assembly polls draw near, the community is increasingly questioning whether they have been taken for granted.


Smaller parties like the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) have provided more space for Muslim candidates, with the VBA nominating nine Muslims and AIMIM putting forward four, yet these parties lack the infrastructure and political reach to make a significant dent in the larger political picture.


The mood in the Muslim community ahead of the Assembly poll is generally to cast in their lot with a minority candidate of whichever party. In this light, it will be interesting to see if the VBA and the AIMIM, once allies but now contesting independently, can woo Muslim voters to their fold from the legacy parties.


The absence of Muslim candidates in key constituencies is glaring. Byculla, for example, is a Muslim-majority area where the MVA could have fielded a strong Muslim candidate, but instead, it chose to field Manoj Jamsutkar, a former Shiv Sena corporator from Nagpada. Byculla, which had a significant role in helping MVA candidate Arvind Sawant win the South Mumbai Lok Sabha seat in May, is now set to see a showdown between the Shiv Sena’s Yamini Jadhav and Jamsutkar.


Observers claim the discontent runs deeper in constituencies where the Muslim vote had played a pivotal role in the past. Areas like Dharavi, Byculla, and Sion Koliwada had seen significant Muslim mobilization during the Lok Sabha elections, helping the MVA in securing crucial seats.


The MVA’s failure to deliver on its promises of inclusivity may very well lead to a splintering of the Muslim vote as many in the community now struggle to find a political party or leader that truly represents their interests.

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