Small industrial units stare at operations loss on LPG shortage

Pune: Several industrial units in the district may soon have to suspend operations amid liquified petroleum gas (LPG) shortages in the country triggered by the West Asian conflict, while a majority of micro and small engineering firms are left with just a couple of days' supply.

"The situation is alarming. I got several distress calls from manufacturing units saying they may have to close operations if the supply of commercial gas does not resume. We thought there will be limited supply, but it has stopped completely. Today, many people called our offices saying they have one or two days of stock left," said Hari Srivastava, the chairman of Deccan Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture.


Bhosari MLA, BJP's Mahesh Landge, who raised the matter in the state assembly on Thursday, said, "Nearly 20,000 small scale industrialists from the Chakan industry are going through a challenging situation."

"They are not getting a supply of gas and other raw materials, including aluminum and copper, to run their industrial units and they are urging govt to help. The central and state govt will have to take some policy decisions to ensure they get supply of required raw materials," he added.

On March 9, the Centre said the supply to industrial consumers should be maintained at 80% of the previous six months' average gas consumption.

"After extensive discussions with manufacturers, we understand the govt order is not being followed at the distributor levels. Frequent meetings should be conducted at the level of district collector to ensure compliance and take corrective actions where necessary," said Prashant Girbane, director general, Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture.

The most severe impact of the shortage is on surface coating, forging, die casting, hot boiler operators and metal casting. These industries have shifted to gas-based machinery from diesel-based equipment and it is not possible to make the switch to another alternative energy in the short-term.

"We have been seeking some intervention as operating the furnace without fuel supply will be a major problem," Sakshi Katti, an executive at a steel producing unit in Chakan, said. The foundry has a total capacity of 200 tonnes and is fully operated on LPG. It requires around 20 cylinders every two weeks. The manufacturing unit is left with only one week of LPG stock and is frantically trying to get hold of some supply.

"Our purchasing team has tried with the regular supplier for industrial LPG but he is unable to supply. They are also trying to get stock from all seven to eight suppliers in Chakan and Bhosari. So far, we have not received a positive reply from anyone," she said.

Pimpri Chinchwad Small Scale Industries Association president Sandip Belsare said the only solution was to start at least limited supply as most of the factories would have to stop operations if the situation continued. It is seeking a meeting with Maharashtra industries minister Uday Samant to get some respite from the impact of shortage of LPG on the industrial belt in Pune.

The casting clusters in Pune-Pimpri Chinchwad, Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Kolhapur that have MSME base are highly exposed. Smaller foundries and die casters that lack piped natural gas (PNG) connections were dependent on commercial LPG cylinders, said Vidhi Daryanani, secretary general of the Aluminium Casters' Association of India.