Liquefied natural gas shortage hits industries hard in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, many units say stock dwindling, will last for only two days

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Several industries in the city are on the brink of shutting down over the next two to five days due to a severe disruption in liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply. The scarcity has prompted the Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agriculture (CMIA), one of the apex industrial bodies in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, to write to the chief minister and Centre seeking immediate intervention. ""Most LNG-dependent industries are facing an unprecedented situation. Many have fuel for only a couple of days, and others are scrambling to find alternatives to keep their operations going," CMIA president Utsav Machar said. According to him, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar has around 4,500 industries and nearly 90% of them are already experiencing production disruptions due to the fuel shortage. "We have submitted our representation to the CM and Centre. We are seeking an appointment to brief them about the gravity of the situation," Machar said.Industrialists said shortages of LNG, LPG, methanol and pitching oil had already hit output across sectors. "If supplies are not restored urgently, industries like automobile component manufacturing and pharmaceuticals may be forced into temporary shutdowns. The city's industries require close to 240 metric tonnes of gas daily, and stakeholders fear the ongoing conflict in West Asia has tightened global supply chains, raising the possibility of prolonged shortages and volatile prices," an industrialist said.During a CMIA meeting on Tuesday to review the situation, many entrepreneurs said they had just enough fuel to operate for the next few days. Nearly 10 micro and small units have already stopped production. Jay Gosar of Auric Green said the company produced over 450 CNG cylinders a day and required 32-35 tonnes of gas daily. "We've been told that supplies may be halted. We can manage for a few days, but without improvement, we may be compelled to shut operations. Each shift has around 250 contract workers, and gas is required at every production stage," he said.Industrialist Atul Kulkarni said his plant used about 2.6 tonnes of LPG daily to heat metal components. "If supply doesn't resume, we may have to suspend operations by Wednesday afternoon. Our firm directly employs around 1,800 workers," he said.Uday Randhale of the Sanjeev Auto Group said their six units needed nearly 30 tonnes of propane daily. "We may have to shut down after March 14 if supply isn't restored. We also use around 4,000 litres of pitching oil daily, which is also unavailable," he said.Girish Kale of Exide Company said they had fuel stock for only five more days. "We use methanol, and its price has jumped from Rs 33.25 to Rs 44.25, forcing us to scale down production," he said. AK Sengupta of Nahar Engineering, which supplies components to Bajaj, Honda and TVS, said operations might halt by noon on March 12 if gas supply didn't resume. Suresh Todkar from the Devgiri Electronic Cluster also said the shortage was severely affecting production.The hotel industry also raised concerns. Harpreet Singh, president of a hotel association, said the city's more than 450 hotels depended on gas supply for daily operations. "Hotels have not shut yet, but the situation may arise within a day if the shortage continues. It will affect the livelihood of many workers," he added.