HYDERABAD: Amid concerns over cooking fuel availability and the lack of induction stoves in the market, some households and eateries in Hyderabad have begun considering firewood as a temporary alternative. Timber traders, however, say the quantity available in the city is far too limited to support large-scale use.
Traders estimate that Hyderabad currently has about 2,000 tonnes of firewood in circulation. According to them, this stock would be insufficient to meet the cooking requirements of the city’s population if LPG supply were disrupted.
PV Kuldeep, an employee of Timber India, said firewood has traditionally served rural areas but is not suited to cities of Hyderabad’s scale. “Firewood works in villages, but a large city cannot depend on it because the available stock is extremely limited,” he said.
Firewood supply in Hyderabad comes from several sources, including timber processing units, roadside vendors selling logs, and wood waste collected from establishments and residential areas. Some quantity also comes from biomass pellets made from wood waste.
Kuldeep said around 250 wood-based industries in the city generate firewood as a byproduct of timber cutting and processing. “If each of these units holds about two tonnes on average, the sector would account for roughly 500 tonnes,” he said. Roadside vendors are estimated to contribute another 250 tonnes, while smaller quantities come from waste wood and pellets. Even after adding all these sources, traders say the total stock in the city would remain below 2,000 tonnes.
Individual suppliers also hold limited inventories. Kuldeep said his own stock is about 2,000 kg, which could be exhausted within a day depending on demand.
Traders say prices have already begun rising. Md Rasool Khan, who works at a firewood stockyard in Erragada, said supplier rates have increased in recent days. “Earlier we used to sell firewood at about `7 to `8 per kg. Now suppliers are giving it to us at `10 to `12 per kg,” he said.
Khan said his yard currently has around 2,000 kg of stock and receives about 24–25 customers daily. With current demand, he expects the stock to last only about a day.
Traders note that one LPG cylinder provides roughly the same cooking energy as about 200 kg of firewood. By that calculation, 2,000 tonnes of firewood would be equivalent to about 10,000 LPG cylinders.
They say this quantity would meet only a small share of the city’s cooking demand. Given the limited supply and the practical challenges of using wood in urban kitchens, traders suggest households rely more on electrical cooking appliances if fuel shortages occur.