By Krishna Pokharel and Tripti Lahiri | Photography by Shubhadeep Mukherjee for WSJ
April 22, 2026 10:00 am ET
India imports more than half of its cooking gas, most of which is shipped through the strait.
NOIDA, India—Sanjit Kumar was sweating profusely. For a third week, the garment worker had sacrificed a day’s wages to stand in line in soaring temperatures to try to buy cooking gas, supplies of which have dried up here during the war in Iran.
In recent days, his frustration boiled over and the 29-year-old joined thousands of factory workers who have protested in this industrial hub in northern India to demand higher wages, as disruptions from the war have rippled through an economy heavily reliant on imported oil and gas.
Before the war throttled shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Kumar’s family could count on getting the 30-pound cylinder from a government-approved gas agency for around $10. But, for weeks during the continuing conflict, Kumar had to buy gas on the black market at eight times the price, making it impossible for him to cover his family’s other expenses.
“We were forced to protest because prices for everything are going up, while our wage is mostly stagnant,” said Kumar. “It became too much for us.”
A woman moves an LPG cylinder in Noida. Sanjit Kumar says he had been forced to buy gas on the black market.
This April, India has seen some of its largest labor protests in years, triggered in part by economic pain inflicted by disruption from the war in the Middle East. The prospect of the strait reopening retreated further this week, after President Trump said he would maintain a blockade of Iranian ports and postponed U.S. peace talks with Iran. The energy crisis has exposed how precarious the line between making ends meet and falling into debt is for many Indian workers who had hoped jobs in big cities would help them break into the middle class.
On one tense day this month, protesters in Noida—disgruntled by high cooking-gas prices and demanding the wage rises given in a neighboring state—torched cars, prompting police to fire tear gas and round up hundreds. Protests have also spread to other factory hubs in northern India.
The demonstrations are a wake-up call for India, the world’s most populous nation, which has avoided widespread worker unrest despite economists warning for years that it is facing a crisis of not enough jobs and stagnating wages. The country adds millions of workers to its labor force every year and has been trying to reinvigorate its manufacturing sector to boost jobs and incomes.
The worker demonstrations come despite India’s decision to cap the price of petrol and diesel at state-run pumps, even as the price of crude has surged by around 40% to about $100 a barrel. The Indian government cut taxes on state-run fuel retailers in late March to reduce their losses, which reached more than $250 million a day, taking a hit to its own finances. Now, many economists and businesses are predicting that India is running out of fiscal room and will have to consider raising prices once regional elections are out of the way later this month.
“If just the gas shortages have caused this kind of pressure, we could be heading for a difficult summer in the industrial belts of our country,” said Saurabh Mukherjea, founder of Mumbai-based Marcellus Investment Managers.
As soon as the war began, Indian authorities worried about the fate of cooking gas—or LPG—a blend of propane and butane that is widely used by most Indians. India imports more than half of its cooking gas, the bulk of which is shipped through the crucial strait.
A factory worker holds his LPG passbook in Noida, while others wait in anticipation for cylinders.
India has a roughly two-month buffer of crude oil and petroleum products, but counts on more limited stores of cooking or natural gas. Indian officials gave priority to households and limited availability for businesses. Authorities say they ensured stable supplies for home users by increasing domestic production and lining up imports through other routes until the end of May.
But many migrant workers say they lack the local address documents that allow them to sign up for utilities, so they end up buying cooking gas from the unregulated market, and don’t benefit from government subsidies. Others, like Kumar, have the required accounts but still aren’t able to buy gas because it isn’t available.
Economists say that on India’s assembly lines, factory workers often earn less than direct hires and have seen their wages largely stuck for years. The sudden rise in the price of just one vital item was enough to tip them into widespread despair and anger.
“The trigger is the increase of LPG prices,” said Santosh Mehrotra, a development economist and visiting professor at the University of Bath. “But that’s come on an entire decade or more of stagnant wages.”
India has engaged in frantic diplomacy with Iran in recent weeks over the safe passage of LPG and crude tankers from the Middle East. Traffic through the chokepoint is now at a trickle, and under threat of attacks by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.
India said this week that 10 tankers, mainly carrying LPG, have arrived in India since the war started, a fraction of the usual number. Before the war, an average of 50 LPG tankers and 55 crude oil tankers transited Hormuz to reach India each month, according to commodities data firm Kpler.
India has also received three shipments of crude oil from Iran, according to a local Iranian diplomatic mission—the first such transfers in years after sanctions suffocated trade between the two countries.
A crowd trying to get cooking gas from a local LPG distributor in Noida last week.
On Friday, Kumar was near the tail end of a line of around 100 people, many of them women with children in tow, at a gas dealer in Noida. They had obtained official gas connections through a government program aimed at helping women.
But like Kumar, who was there to get his wife’s allocation, many said they hadn’t been able to get gas since March, despite having received at least one text message telling them that their gas cylinder had already been delivered to their homes. Some wondered if their delivery had actually been diverted.
The government says authorities have carried out raids and taken action against hoarders and black marketeers who are exploiting shortages to price gouge.
On Sunday, several people, including Kumar, reported being able to buy a $10 cylinder for the first time since the war began, after officials said they were making more arrangements for migrant workers to access supplies.
Before the war, Abhishek Yadav, a 25-year-old worker on a shoe factory assembly line who also protested this month, felt he was managing and hoped studying on the side would land him a government job.
“Now, even when I work overtime, all money gets spent,” said Yadav, who has decided to leave his job in Noida and return to his home village. Other workers too say they are reluctantly considering quitting their jobs.
Vikash Bind's parents want him to return to his village. People waiting at an LPG distributor's office for refills in Noida.
Vikash Bind, a 26-year-old molding machine operator in Haryana, makes about $180 a month with overtime, with which he supports his wife, two children and his parents back in the village. He isn’t interested in farming, but his parents are urging him to come home and work on their fields.
“They call me on the phone and say, ‘Since you are able to save no money there anymore working for so many hours, what’s the use of such a job?’” said Bind.
With shortages of gas and migrant workers, other businesses have supply and demand problems. Roshan, 28, who sells steamed dumplings mostly to migrant workers, says he is facing a double whammy—higher prices and fewer customers. He raised his prices about two weeks ago by 50% to 30 cents for a plate of dumplings—known here as momos. Business is down by half since the start of the war, he says.
“The public isn’t there,” he said. “Because of the gas problems they’ve gone home.”
Source (Archive)
April 22, 2026 10:00 am ET
India imports more than half of its cooking gas, most of which is shipped through the strait.
NOIDA, India—Sanjit Kumar was sweating profusely. For a third week, the garment worker had sacrificed a day’s wages to stand in line in soaring temperatures to try to buy cooking gas, supplies of which have dried up here during the war in Iran.
In recent days, his frustration boiled over and the 29-year-old joined thousands of factory workers who have protested in this industrial hub in northern India to demand higher wages, as disruptions from the war have rippled through an economy heavily reliant on imported oil and gas.
Before the war throttled shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Kumar’s family could count on getting the 30-pound cylinder from a government-approved gas agency for around $10. But, for weeks during the continuing conflict, Kumar had to buy gas on the black market at eight times the price, making it impossible for him to cover his family’s other expenses.
“We were forced to protest because prices for everything are going up, while our wage is mostly stagnant,” said Kumar. “It became too much for us.”
A woman moves an LPG cylinder in Noida. Sanjit Kumar says he had been forced to buy gas on the black market.
This April, India has seen some of its largest labor protests in years, triggered in part by economic pain inflicted by disruption from the war in the Middle East. The prospect of the strait reopening retreated further this week, after President Trump said he would maintain a blockade of Iranian ports and postponed U.S. peace talks with Iran. The energy crisis has exposed how precarious the line between making ends meet and falling into debt is for many Indian workers who had hoped jobs in big cities would help them break into the middle class.
On one tense day this month, protesters in Noida—disgruntled by high cooking-gas prices and demanding the wage rises given in a neighboring state—torched cars, prompting police to fire tear gas and round up hundreds. Protests have also spread to other factory hubs in northern India.
The demonstrations are a wake-up call for India, the world’s most populous nation, which has avoided widespread worker unrest despite economists warning for years that it is facing a crisis of not enough jobs and stagnating wages. The country adds millions of workers to its labor force every year and has been trying to reinvigorate its manufacturing sector to boost jobs and incomes.
The worker demonstrations come despite India’s decision to cap the price of petrol and diesel at state-run pumps, even as the price of crude has surged by around 40% to about $100 a barrel. The Indian government cut taxes on state-run fuel retailers in late March to reduce their losses, which reached more than $250 million a day, taking a hit to its own finances. Now, many economists and businesses are predicting that India is running out of fiscal room and will have to consider raising prices once regional elections are out of the way later this month.
“If just the gas shortages have caused this kind of pressure, we could be heading for a difficult summer in the industrial belts of our country,” said Saurabh Mukherjea, founder of Mumbai-based Marcellus Investment Managers.
As soon as the war began, Indian authorities worried about the fate of cooking gas—or LPG—a blend of propane and butane that is widely used by most Indians. India imports more than half of its cooking gas, the bulk of which is shipped through the crucial strait.
A factory worker holds his LPG passbook in Noida, while others wait in anticipation for cylinders.
India has a roughly two-month buffer of crude oil and petroleum products, but counts on more limited stores of cooking or natural gas. Indian officials gave priority to households and limited availability for businesses. Authorities say they ensured stable supplies for home users by increasing domestic production and lining up imports through other routes until the end of May.
But many migrant workers say they lack the local address documents that allow them to sign up for utilities, so they end up buying cooking gas from the unregulated market, and don’t benefit from government subsidies. Others, like Kumar, have the required accounts but still aren’t able to buy gas because it isn’t available.
Economists say that on India’s assembly lines, factory workers often earn less than direct hires and have seen their wages largely stuck for years. The sudden rise in the price of just one vital item was enough to tip them into widespread despair and anger.
“The trigger is the increase of LPG prices,” said Santosh Mehrotra, a development economist and visiting professor at the University of Bath. “But that’s come on an entire decade or more of stagnant wages.”
India has engaged in frantic diplomacy with Iran in recent weeks over the safe passage of LPG and crude tankers from the Middle East. Traffic through the chokepoint is now at a trickle, and under threat of attacks by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.
India said this week that 10 tankers, mainly carrying LPG, have arrived in India since the war started, a fraction of the usual number. Before the war, an average of 50 LPG tankers and 55 crude oil tankers transited Hormuz to reach India each month, according to commodities data firm Kpler.
India has also received three shipments of crude oil from Iran, according to a local Iranian diplomatic mission—the first such transfers in years after sanctions suffocated trade between the two countries.
A crowd trying to get cooking gas from a local LPG distributor in Noida last week.
On Friday, Kumar was near the tail end of a line of around 100 people, many of them women with children in tow, at a gas dealer in Noida. They had obtained official gas connections through a government program aimed at helping women.
But like Kumar, who was there to get his wife’s allocation, many said they hadn’t been able to get gas since March, despite having received at least one text message telling them that their gas cylinder had already been delivered to their homes. Some wondered if their delivery had actually been diverted.
The government says authorities have carried out raids and taken action against hoarders and black marketeers who are exploiting shortages to price gouge.
On Sunday, several people, including Kumar, reported being able to buy a $10 cylinder for the first time since the war began, after officials said they were making more arrangements for migrant workers to access supplies.
Before the war, Abhishek Yadav, a 25-year-old worker on a shoe factory assembly line who also protested this month, felt he was managing and hoped studying on the side would land him a government job.
“Now, even when I work overtime, all money gets spent,” said Yadav, who has decided to leave his job in Noida and return to his home village. Other workers too say they are reluctantly considering quitting their jobs.
Vikash Bind's parents want him to return to his village. People waiting at an LPG distributor's office for refills in Noida.
Vikash Bind, a 26-year-old molding machine operator in Haryana, makes about $180 a month with overtime, with which he supports his wife, two children and his parents back in the village. He isn’t interested in farming, but his parents are urging him to come home and work on their fields.
“They call me on the phone and say, ‘Since you are able to save no money there anymore working for so many hours, what’s the use of such a job?’” said Bind.
With shortages of gas and migrant workers, other businesses have supply and demand problems. Roshan, 28, who sells steamed dumplings mostly to migrant workers, says he is facing a double whammy—higher prices and fewer customers. He raised his prices about two weeks ago by 50% to 30 cents for a plate of dumplings—known here as momos. Business is down by half since the start of the war, he says.
“The public isn’t there,” he said. “Because of the gas problems they’ve gone home.”
Source (Archive)
