Mumbai: Mahanagar Gas waive off security deposit to support bakeries’ move to switch to cleaner fuels

The BMC on February 19 directed all the bakeries and eateries in Mumbai to switch to clean fuel alternatives by July 8, 2025. The civic body’s direction came following a Bombay High Court directive which on January 9 ordered the civic body to ensure that all the eateries that are operating on the conventional oven system must switch to cleaner mode of fuels.

At present, the traditional pav–which is a staple food for Mumbaikars–are baked in ovens (bhattis) which are dome-shaped structures made out of bricks and mortars, which are suited for wood fires as the sole source of heat. Members from the BBA said that usage of electricity in baking pav is economically unviable and impossible to be used in the dome shaped structures that have a maximum area of 150 square feet.

Earlier on February 27, the Bombay Bakers Association (BBA) wrote to the civic authorities and requested them to extend the timeline considering a six-month deadline would be not enough for them to switch to other means.

K P Irani, the president of the association said, “The utility providers of PNG lines don’t have an adequate network of pipelines and have asked us for a deposit of Rs 95 lakh for giving one connection. Paying such an exorbitant price is not at all feasible for us and transforming the existing infrastructure on our own, within such a short notice, will also be not feasible for us. Therefore, we have asked the civic authorities to provide us with subsidies and be flexible with the deadline, considering the service providers will also need to augment their infrastructure to provide the services.”

“MGL takes a bank guarantee as a limited period refundable security deposit from its industrial & commercial customers towards the cost incurred in laying the last-mile dedicated gas infrastructure for the customer. MGL has now taken a decision to waive this requirement for eateries and bakeries impacted by the directives to support a cleaner environment and help businesses in their transition to cleaner fuel,” the MGL’s statement further stated.

According to a survey carried out by Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG), there are 628 bakeries in Mumbai. In 2024, the BEAG carried out a survey of 216 of these bakeries where it was found that 47% or 100 entities use carbon intensive fuels like wood and scrap– which are carbon intensive in nature and contribute to the generation of PM 2.5 in the air.