Electric induction cooktops are flying off the shelves in India as households rush to buy the appliance amid fears of a cooking gas shortage due to the ongoing war in the Middle East.
The war has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, raising costs and tightening oil and gas supplies from the region.
The government in India, the world’s second-largest importer of liquefied petroleum gas, has invoked emergency powers to boost supplies for households even as availability tightens for commercial users such as canteens, hostels and restaurants.
The fear of rising LPG prices and potential unavailability in the near term has prompted consumers to buy electric cooking appliances as a precaution.
Several induction stove models are already sold-out on e-commerce and quick-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, Blinkit, Instamart, and Zepto, while some offline chains say fresh supplies are still days away.
Omkar Kandharkar, a Mumbai-based restaurateur, said he was considering switching to commercial induction stoves after the war in the Middle East triggered crude oil and LPG prices to surge.
“But I thought things would be brought under control,” he told broadcaster WION. “As the shortage became evident, I went to purchase the same cooking range. This time around, what was priced at Rs 9,000 [£73] was sold for Rs 23,000 [£187].”
-cylinders-for-domestic-use-at-a-gas-agency-office.jpeg)
Induction stove sales on Amazon India have jumped nearly 30-fold and those of rice cookers and electric pressure cookers fourfold, a company spokesperson said. Kitchen appliances maker TTK Prestige said demand for induction stoves had surged far beyond supply.
“There is a threefold surge,” chief executive Venkatesh Vijayaraghavan told Reuters. In response, the company has raised production capacity to 100 per cent, from around 70 per cent before the start of the war, and increased staffing by roughly 15 per cent. It also plans to raise prices of induction stoves in the June quarter to offset any higher costs.
Induction stoves accounted for about a tenth of TTK’s Rs 25bn (£207m) standalone revenue in 2024-25.
Google Trends showed search interest for induction stoves hit a record high on 12 March while some restaurant chains, including Wow Momo and California Burrito, said they were exploring induction stoves as a contingency plan.
TTK Prestige will switch from sea shipments to airlifting components from China and Southeast Asia, absorbing higher costs to ensure continued supplies if disruptions persist, according to Mr Vijayaraghavan.
India’s oil ministry said it had set up a panel to review requests for LPG supply to restaurants and other industries, following appeals from two industry bodies.
Indian companies have raised LPG prices for the first time in about a year as the war makes imports, which account for two-thirds of annual consumption, costlier by the day.
India’s largest supplier of LNG, Qatar, halted production last week following Iranian strikes on Gulf countries in retaliation for the US-Israeli war against it.
