India's Food Delivery Hit by LPG Shortage

A severe shortage of commercial Liquefied petroleum gas cylinders in India, triggered by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East disrupting global LPG supplies, is significantly impacting the country's food delivery ecosystem. Restaurants, dhabas, street vendors, and cloud kitchens have been forced to cut operations, leading to a 50-80% drop in food delivery orders on platforms such as Swiggy and Zomato. This has resulted in a sharp fall in income for thousands of gig workers, with the Gig and Platform Service Workers Union reporting widespread hardship and families skipping meals. The union has urged the India===Ministry of Labor and Employment to intervene, ensure continuous LPG supply, and provide financial relief and social security protections for affected workers. The crisis also poses a potential threat to ride-hailing services like Ola Consumer, Uber, and Rapido if fuel supply disruptions continue.