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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.

Running SP As His Fiefdom

Updated: Nov 25, 2024

SP

In Maharashtra, the Samajwadi Party is known only by one man—Abu Asim Azmi. The party may well be led by the Yadav family, but outside of its home turf, Uttar Pradesh, the SP has a presence in Maharashtra, largely due to the efforts of Azmi. The politician has had a controversial career, first jumping into the spotlight for his arrest under the stringent TADA or Terrorism and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act in the early 1990s. He was arrested for allegedly arranging flight tickets for a man who was accused in the 1993 bomb blasts that rocked Mumbai city. After spending two years in jail, he was acquitted and that paved the way for his career in politics.


Mulayam Singh Yadav, then the president of the SP, appointed Azmi as the party president in Maharashtra, recognising the following Azmi had gathered among the Muslims hailing from the north of India but residing in Maharashtra. In its first election in Maharashtra, the SP, led by Azmi, won three assembly seats but the MLAs didn’t stay in the party for long. Azmi was accused of being authoritarian and dictatorial in his working style. With no other senior leader in Maharashtra, he treated the party as his fiefdom. But the leadership believed that Azmi could bring them results and sent him to the Rajya Sabha in 2002. He contested by lost the 2004 state assembly elections but won from Mankhurd, a Muslim-majority constituency in 2009 and is currently an MLA from Mankhurd.


Even as a member of the legislative assembly, Azmi’s career has been stormy. He’s been a polarising figure known for making intemperate statements. He even got into a physical fight with MLAs from Raj Thackeray’s MNS a few years ago. He had a fall out with party colleague Rais Shaikh who was known to be a more moderate and progressive face. Nawab Mallik, who contested against him from Mankhurd this time, has time and again, accused Azmi of allowing a drug trade to flourish under his watch. Although he claims to fight ‘fascist forces’ in Maharashtra, his speeches have always been polarising.


Azmi’s son Farhan unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Mumbai and since then has withdrawn from active politics. He focuses on running his restaurants along with his wife Ayesha Takia, a former actress. In 2018, an FIR was filed against Farhan for cheating but he was granted pre-arrest bail. The 2024 assembly elections may prove to be crucial for Azmi as he faces two prominent candidates from Mankhurd. The party has lost most of his known faces who have accused Azmi of running the party as a ‘private limited company’.

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