Bengalureans see monthly expenses climb 8-15% amid West Asia crisis

Two months after the West Asia crisis triggered an LPG shortage, its financial impact continues to be felt in everyday life in Bengaluru. For some families, monthly expenses have risen by 8-15 per cent, with prices increasing for groceries, auto rides and even puja flowers.

People are cutting back on eating out on a whim, celebrating birthdays at home, cooking simpler meals that use less LPG, or relying on induction stoves. These changes have not been easy. Saanvi Satish says her family’s electricity bill doubled after switching to induction cooking.

“Food took longer to cook and was often undercooked. So we have returned to LPG, but we still keep our meals simple. Earlier, our lunch had two sabzis and two curries. Now it’s usually just one,” she says.

Property adviser Aftab Ali has cut back on buying clothes and shoes, and on travelling across the city to meet relatives. With restaurants raising prices and trimming menus, many people are ordering less. However, he cannot. “My wife has not been keeping well. We depend on hotel food,” he says.

For Kalyani, a domestic worker, the situation is tighter. She says the prices of rice, cooking oil and vegetables have gone up, while her household income has fallen. “My husband is an auto driver. His daily earnings have dropped from Rs 300 to Rs 200. Now, I buy groceries based on how much he earns each day,” she says.

Jayasheela, a gig worker, has been eating outside for the past two weeks since she ran out of cooking gas. “My daughter goes to a government school, so her meals are taken care of,” she says.

Food habits are changing too. George Dimitrov says his family, which earlier had non-vegetarian food three to four times a week, now cooks it just once. “Even then, it’s something simple, like a minced meat soup,” says the assistant professor of political science. “I have a commercial gas connection, and the price has gone up from Rs 1,200 to Rs 2,400,” he adds.

The impact has gone beyond food. Alice Mathew, head of the political science department at a college, says she is “topping up” petrol in her car every three to four days in anticipation of a price hike. Dimitrov, meanwhile, is refuelling more often as roads near his college are frequently blocked by autos waiting to refill LPG. “I take longer diversions now,” he says.

In Whitefield, Priya Ranganathan has stalled construction of her house since mid-March. “We had six to seven labourers staying on site. We couldn’t ensure a regular LPG supply for them to cook,” she explains.

For some, the only way to cope with rising expenses is to work more. Ramesh Kumar, a security guard, says the crisis has come on top of general inflation and has hit his savings hard. “I have been working every day instead of on alternate days to make ends meet.”