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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.

Unrest within Mahayuti

Updated: Jan 21, 2025

Mahayuti

Mumbai: The state administration on Sunday stalled the appointments of guardian ministers in Raigad and Nashik districts. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had cleared the appointments before he left for Davos in Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum on Saturday. They are believed to have been stalled on behest of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who heads the state in absence of the Chief Minister.


NCP’s Aditi Tatkare and BJP’s Girish Mahajan were entrusted with responsibilities of guardian minister for the Raigad and Nashik districts respectively, where Shiv Sena’s Bharat Gogawale and Dada Bhuse had staked claims. Gogawale is a first-time minister while, Bhuse had been the guardian minister of the district during previous government under Eknath Shinde.


Shiv Sena, NCP and BJP all the three constituents of Mahayuti have strong roots in both the districts. However, the Shiv Sena and the NCP had been particularly on loggerheads there. The Shiv Sena, which had been demanding the guardian minister’s post in Nashik district has managed to win only two assembly seats in the district where the NCP has Six and the BJP has Five MLAs. On the contrary, in Raigad the NCP has won only one seat while the Shiv Sena and the BJP both have Three MLAs each in the district.


Sunil Tatkare, MP from Raigad Lok Sabha constituency and the stat unit president of the NCP and father of Aditi Tatkare, had been the guardian minister of Raigad between 2004 and 2014. Gogawale had always been his political opponent before Tatkare joined the Mahayuti government under Ajit Pawar’s leadership in 2023. Gogawale claimed that all the Six Shiv Sena-BJP MLAs in the district had opined in his favour to be the guardian minister of the district and after the decision to appoint Aditi Tatkare was announced, his supporters resorted to violent protests. They burnt tyres in bid to stall traffic on highway in the district. Reacting to the developments, Tatkare said that the issue should be pondered over after CM Fadnavis returns from Davos on Saturday and settled amicably.


In Nashik Girish Mahajan had been the guardian minister of the district between 2014 and 2019 when Fadnavis was the Chief Minister.


The post of guardian minister doesn’t have any constitutional mandate and is considered to be a political appointment. Guardian ministers head the district planning and development councils (DPDC) that control the funds for development works being carried out in the particular district. This control wields much of political power to the minister in that district whereby spreading the party in the district becomes much easier. This is the reason why the grass root politicians seem to be very sensitive to such appointments.


While Gogawale and Bhuse are unhappy about not being appointed as guardian ministers, some others like NCP’s Hasan Mushrif and BJP’s Pankaja Munde are unhappy about not being appointed as guardian district in their home districts of Kolhapur and Beed respectively. DCM Shinde is learnt to have gone to his ancestral village Dare in Satara district after the decision and BJP’s firefighters Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Girish Mahajan are expected to meet him there to try finding a way out of the issue.

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