Shares of kitchen appliance makers surged this week as a shortage of commercial LPG cylinders pushed households to look for electric cooking alternatives. Shares of TTK Prestige jumped about 5% intraday on 12 March. This is primarily because demand for electric induction cookers has spiked amid the LPG shortage. Most e-commerce websites, as well as local electronic appliance shops, confirmed a surge in demand.
In fact, TTK Prestige shares are up 17.23% over the past week. Other appliance makers also saw gains. Stove Kraft has climbed 9.49% in this week so far, while Butterfly Gandhimathi Appliances rose 2.67% intraday and is up 17.49% in this week. Shares of Bajaj Electricals also gained 1.21% intraday, taking its weekly gains to 7.75%.
The rally comes as demand for electric cooking appliances such as induction cooktops and rice cookers surges amid the LPG supply crunch affecting several cities.
Demand for electric appliances spikes
Online retailers say sales of electric cooking appliances have jumped sharply over the past few days as consumers search for alternatives to LPG.
An Amazon India spokesperson told financialexpress.com that demand has surged across multiple appliance categories. “Over the last two days, sales of induction cooktops have increased over 30X, while rice cookers and electric pressure cookers are seeing a 4X increase. Air fryers and multi-use kettles are also seeing a 2X increase in sales over a regular day. Customers are using Amazon Now to get similar products within minutes in parts of Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru.”
The surge in demand is already translating into shortages on quick-commerce platforms. Induction cooktops are currently listed as out of stock across Delhi-NCR on Blinkit, Swiggy, Zepto and even Amazon.
Restaurants struggle to switch away from LPG
While households may be able to shift to electric cooking, restaurant owners say moving away from LPG is far more difficult in practice. A restaurant owner in Gurugram said switching to electric equipment could push electricity costs up by more than 1.5 times due to the number of orders kitchens handle daily. “It will take longer to prepare food on induction,” he said, adding that electric burners heat up slower compared to LPG.
Another challenge is infrastructure. Induction cooking requires flat-bottom cookware, meaning restaurants would need to replace much of their existing kitchen equipment. The shortage has also pushed up prices of alternative cooking equipment.
“Less than a year ago, the same induction stove cost around Rs 10,000. Today it is selling for nearly Rs 35,000, and there is barely any stock left,” said Swaroop Murgod, cafe owner in Bengaluru.