India, March 13 -- Under a blazing afternoon sun on Akurli Road in Kandivali, a line of empty LPG cylinders stands in silent formation, placeholders for anxious residents waiting for a refill truck to arrive. People hover nearby, unwilling to stray far. Hours pass. The truck never arrives.

LPG, currently worth its weight in gold, is in short supply due to the war in West Asia cutting supplies of the cooking gas that powers millions of households across the country. The shortage is fuelled by rumours driving panic buying even as an LPG black market thrives.

Single-cylinder households are worst hit, prompting many to take leave from work so that they can wait for an elusive refill. Queues were seen from Kandivali in the western suburbs to...