Visakhapatnam: Visakhapatnam city has witnessed a sudden surge in the sale of induction stoves over the past two days as consumers, fearing disruption in LPG supplies, rushed to malls and electrical stores to purchase the appliances.
“We sold around 120 stoves in the last two days, which is unusual. Normally, we sell fewer than five stoves a day,” a representative of a leading mall in the city said.
He said the management has placed orders with several companies to procure more stoves to meet the rising demand. The prices range from Rs 1,200 to Rs 5,000 depending on the wattage.
However, he noted that no commercial establishments such as hotels or restaurants had purchased high-wattage induction stoves. Conventional electric stoves have largely disappeared from the market as they consume more power and are considered unsafe, he added.
Visakhapatnam Hotels and Restaurants Association president G. Balakrishna said induction stoves are not viable for restaurants. He added that unlike rural eateries, city restaurants cannot switch to charcoal or firewood either.
Andhra Pradesh has been promoting the use of induction stoves. On June 5 last year, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu launched the National Efficient Cooking Programme (NECP) to shift 55,607 anganwadi centres to electric cooking, beginning with 11,400 centres. The initiative, implemented with EESL, aims to promote clean cooking, reduce LPG costs by about Rs 25 crore annually and cut 28,327 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.