What happens when the cylinder doesn’t show up?

A practical guide to induction setups for students, families, and home food businesses as India’s LPG supply faces its biggest disruption in years

The LPG cylinder that once arrived like clockwork every three weeks has now become a source of anxiety in group chats across urban India. By early March, the Government had invoked the Essential Commodities Act, increased domestic cylinder prices by ₹60, extended the refill booking cycle from 21 to 25 days, and halted commercial gas supplies in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata.

The Chennai Hotel Association warned that nearly 10,000 establishments in Tamil Nadu alone were close to shutting down. The cause is geopolitical: the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly 90% of India’s LPG imports pass, has been closing due to the conflict that escalated after the joint US-Israel strikes on Iran on February 28. India imports over 60% of its cooking gas, and now that supply line is uncertain.

The numbers bear this out. BigBasket data shows induction cooktops recorded a 5x jump in demand on March 10, escalating to a 30x spike by March 11. Seshu Kumar Tirumala, the platform’s chief buying and merchandising officer, notes that the rest of the kitchen appliance category barely moved beyond its usual growth levels. The surge is almost entirely concentrated around induction.

The demand doesn’t seem speculative either as people are making the switch right now, treating induction as a primary cooking setup rather than a hostel fallback or a power-cut plan B. Here is how to think about that transition, from a student’s rented flat to a family kitchen to a home-run supper club.

If your cooking routine is mainly dal-rice, a sabzi, chai, and weekend eggs, then a single-burner portable induction cooktop is all you need. The Prestige PIC 20.0 (1600W, about ₹1,800) is a safe, reliable choice, with preset modes for pressure cooking, dosa, chapati, and curry, along with a standard 6A plug that won’t trip questionable PG wiring.

For faster heating and better searing, the Philips Viva Collection HD4928 (2100W, just under ₹3,000) boils a litre of water in about four minutes and features a useful pause button. The budget option is the Pigeon Rapido Sleek (1800W, around ₹1,400), available on Blinkit and Zepto right now if your cylinder is running low. It has eight presets, auto shut-off, and no frills. It’s the Maruti Alto of induction cooktops, and there’s no shame in that.