The ongoing gas supply disruptions for industrial users has already started impacting the micro, small and medium enterprises and they are gearing up to seek moratorium on outstanding loans upto six months and fresh loans to deliver pending orders.

Most of the MSMEs are sitting on good order book with the financial year coming to an end this month. However, they are finding it difficult to execute these orders due to West Asia war crippling gas supply.

More than 70 per cent of MSMEs in the Western region have cut production by 50-60 per cent due to gas shortage and struggling to complete the orders in hand before the financial year-end.

Industrial gas is crucial for foundries and metal fabrication companies. These companies are unable to undertake gas-fired processes such as heat treatment and powder coating. This has hit the industry and will affect automotive and engineering components supply in the near term.

Chandrakant Salunkhe, President, SME Chamber of India said all SMEs across sectors using gas for making value added products are in a bind as they have to complete the orders before the financial year end and the government bringing in one or three ships is not enough to meet the gas shortfall since the demand is huge.

The association will meet the RBI to seek moratorium on loans for three months and extend further credit to complete the pending orders amid gas shortage, he said.

The situation is grave for metal processing industry to marble manufacturers as nobody know when the war will end and situation will become normal, said Saulanke.

Just like Covid times, the Finance Ministry should announce 3-6 months moratorium on outstanding MSME loans and provide additional 25 per cent loan under the Credit Guarantee Scheme, he said.

Prashant Damle, CEO, Precision Auto Components Industries said given the gas shortage the company tried switching to coal but had give up due to high cost particularly with no certainty on when the gas supply will be restored to normalcy.

“We have cut production by reducing the number of shifts to two and will take further call by month-end,” he added.

Steel companies have already hiked TMT bar prices by ₹1,000- ₹1,500 a tonne while the Morbi cluster is experiencing significant production cuts due to the reliance on natural gas for kilns and this will have an impact on real estate and infrastructure projects by this month-end.

Anand Gupta, Chairperson Housing and Rera Commitee of Builders Association of India said the rise in TMT bar prices will have an impact on individual home builders in the rural areas and impact demand marginally.

The cut in supply from Morbi cluster has not yet impacted real estate projects as of now as there are inventory of one month in the pipeline, but if the gas shortage continues the cost will definitely go up and slowdown projects, he said.

Published on March 15, 2026