Daily-wage migrant workers are fleeing Delhi as the cost of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders reaches unaffordable levels [1].
The exodus threatens the city's industrial labor force and highlights a growing humanitarian crisis where basic cooking fuel has become a luxury item.
In industrial neighborhoods and slums, the price of a black-market LPG cylinder has crossed ₹4,000, rising from a previous cost of ₹1,000 [1]. For a typical daily-wage worker, this single cylinder now costs more than half of their monthly earnings [1].
Families are struggling to maintain basic nutrition. Raju Prasad, a 35-year-old worker, said, "I’ve not had proper food for days" [2]. Other residents have reported a total collapse in availability. Shakuntala Devi said, "We have been trying to find gas cylinders for weeks" [3].
The fuel crisis is compounded by high rent and food costs. Some families have chosen to send dependents back to their home villages to reduce expenses, while others have attempted to revert to using firewood, which remains costly and difficult to procure in the city [1, 3].
Reports on the cause of the crisis vary. Some accounts attribute the migration to localized cooking-gas shortages and soaring prices [3]. Other reports said that the situation is a result of a deepening fuel crisis related to war in Iran, which has worsened both gas and food prices across the region [2].
“"I’ve not had proper food for days"”
The departure of migrant workers indicates a breaking point in Delhi's urban economy. When essential utilities like cooking fuel shift entirely to an unregulated black market, the resulting price volatility creates an immediate push factor that overrides the pull of city employment. This instability suggests that external geopolitical shocks, such as fuel crises, translate directly into labor shortages in India's industrial sectors.
