India’s LPG crisis will force a tough choice between powering kitchens and fueling AI growth

Electric cooktops are vanishing from shelves: Amazon’s local unit reported a 30-fold jump in sales. This marks a pivot for a country where liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG, has 332 million customers. The gas comes home in red-colored cylinders, delivered by a vast distribution network controlled by state-owned refiners. Assuming 10% of households switch to electric and 70% cook dinner simultaneously, the extra 28-gigawatt demand equals nearly a tenth of the summer peak load. This additional load is more than the power-guzzling potential of all data centers under construction globally. Should the LPG squeeze worsen, planners may have to tell…