March 19, 2026
The Local Solution to the Global LPG Crisis
India imports over half its LPG, but cheaper, cleaner alternatives already exist and work at scale
What's happening?
We’ve all read about the LPG crisis in India — global supply disruptions have made cooking gas harder to get. Households are worried about whether they'll get their next cylinder, restaurants have had to cut down their menu.
But there are some who’ve found a solution. Akshaya Patra serves 23.5 lakh school meals daily through 78 kitchens — only 6 run on LPG. The rest use briquettes from crop waste, biogas from food waste, piped gas, and solar energy.
Tirumala’s temple runs on solar steam cooking and Shirdi's temple saves 200 kg LPG daily through solar.
Why should you care?
These kitchens show alternatives already exist and can work even at massive scale.
Biogas turns food waste into fuel. Briquettes use crop stubble farmers would otherwise burn.
India imports over half its LPG. Moving away from LPG not just good for the environment but practical for energy security, and can be cost effective way as well!.