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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.

Rebels may distruptive pitch for Mahayuti, MVA

Mumbai: Major political parties are facing rebellion in their ranks as party workers denied tickets have defied their leaderships and filed nominations for the assembly polls, posing a headache for the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA).


November 4 is the last date for withdrawal of candidatures and after that a clear picture will emerge on the number of rebels still left in the fray.


If rebels decide to dig in their heels, they will pose a significant challenge for official candidates and potentially upset the poll arithmetic of main contenders for power, Mahayuti and MVA, who appear to be locked in a close fight.


The Mahayuti consists of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), while the opposition MVA comprises the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP).


The BJP, which has fielded the highest number of candidates among the major parties, is struggling to manage possible damage from rebels in Mumbai as well as in other parts of the state.


Among the BJP rebels, a notable figure is Gopal Shetty, a two-time MLA and former Lok Sabha member from Mumbai. He has filed his nomination as an independent candidate against the party’s official nominee, Sanjay Upadhyay, in Mumbai’s Borivali assembly constituency.


Shetty represented this assembly constituency in 2004 and 2009 and won the Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai North in both 2014 and 2019. The BJP chose to field Vinod Tawde, now its general secretary, in 2014 and Sunil Rane in 2019 from Borivali and neither of them were local candidates.


While both managed to win the seat, local party members, including Shetty, grew uneasy with the decision to “impose” candidates without consulting them, noted a BJP functionary.


Shetty faced a setback when he was denied a Lok Sabha ticket in 2024, making way for Piyush Goyal, the Union Commerce Minister. Although many anticipated that Shetty would be fielded from Borivali, the BJP opted for Upadhyay instead.


Despite efforts from Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar and MLA Yogesh Sagar to persuade him to reconsider his decision to contest polls, Shetty stood his ground and filed his nomination.

Another local BJP leader, Atul Shah, has submitted his nominations from Mumbadevi in Mumbai city, where the party’s national spokesperson Shaina NC, is the official candidate of ally Shiv Sena.


The Shiv Sena (UBT), led by former CM Uddhav Thackeray, had announced the candidature of Kishanchand Tanwani from the Aurangabad Central constituency in central Maharashtra.


However, Tanwani withdrew his candidature and extended support to Pradeep Jaiswal, the candidate of the Shiv Sena headed by Thackeray’s rival, Chief Minister Shinde.


In Chandrapur district, the BJP has fielded Devrao Bhongale from the Rajura constituency. Upset with the decision, two former MLAs of the BJP -- Sanjay Dhote and Sudarshan Nimkar -- have filed their nominations as independent candidates.


According to political observer Abhay Deshpande, the NCP’s entry in the ruling coalition has posed challenges for the BJP and the Shiv Sena.


Then there are cases where allied parties have put up candidates against each other. For example, in the Solapur South constituency, the Congress nominated Dilip Mane but did not give him official nominee status, while its partner Shiv Sena (UBT) has given ticket to Amar Patil.


Speaking to reporters after filing his nomination as an independent candidate, Mane said, “I was told that the AB form from the Congress will be given to me. It never came so I decided to file my nomination as an independent candidate.”

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