They came to Surat for opportunity and stayed for survival. Now, thousands of migrant workers from Odisha are leaving Gujarat's textile hub, not because they want to, but because India's LPG crisis has made staying impossible.
According to The Indian Express, the exodus began quietly, workers boarding buses back to Odisha with their belongings, their savings depleted, their futures uncertain. By mid-March, community leaders estimate at least 5,000 Odia workers have left Surat, with hundreds more departing daily.
The trigger? LPG cylinder shortages and soaring prices. In Surat, where migrants live in cramped quarters and cook communally, LPG isn't a luxury, it's survival. When cylinders became scarce and prices jumped to ₹1,200, many workers earning ₹12,000-15,000 per month couldn't afford both food and fuel.
A billion people aren't a statistic, they're a billion stories. Let me tell you Ramesh Behera's. He's 34, from Ganjam district in Odisha, worked 12-hour shifts in a Surat textile mill for seven years. His wife and two children stayed in their village, he sent ₹10,000 home monthly. When LPG became unaffordable, he tried cooking on a kerosene stove, but his landlord, fearing fire, evicted him. Last week, he boarded a bus to Berhampur, jobless but heading home.
Sunita Pradhan, 28, worked in a sari embroidery unit, one of the few women who'd made the migration. She shared a room with three others, splitting costs. When LPG became impossible to get, they survived on biscuits and street food for a week. Then rumors of lockdowns spread, panic compounded by the Iran war's economic ripples. She left, unsure what she's returning to but certain Surat offered nothing.
The LPG crisis is a symptom of larger dysfunction. India imports LPG and prices are tied to global markets disrupted by the Iran conflict. But the shortage also reflects , hoarding by dealers, and government subsidies that don't reach the people who need them. Urban middle-class families complain about prices; migrant workers choose between eating and cooking.
