- Based on a suo moto PIL case, the Bombay High Court in January 2025 ordered all of Mumbai’s bakeries to ditch coal and wood-fired ovens for cleaner fuels, to curb air pollution.
- Bakery owners were given a six-month deadline followed by a small extension. While several bakeries are switching to cleaner fuels, some say that the time extension is not sufficient and that the transition is expensive.
- Bakery associations argue that they are being unfairly targeted, while larger polluters face fewer restrictions.
Mumbai runs on its crowded local trains, but mornings here are mostly fuelled by a soft bread, referred to as pav.
The pav, born from the Portuguese pão in the 16th century, is more than just food; it’s a daily ritual that brings the city’s workers, vendors, and families together. Pav is traditionally baked in wood-fired ovens, after it is kneaded, rolled and placed together to rise. Mumbai’s air is thick with the scent of yeast and wood smoke. When trays emerge from the oven, the golden ladi pav carries with it a warmth and flavour, one that dominates the city’s street food.
This familiar aroma has now become a point of contention in Mumbai’s fight for clean air. Following a suo moto public interest petition (PIL) on rising air pollution in Mumbai, the Bombay High Court in January 2025 ordered all bakeries to abandon coal and wood-fired ovens for less-polluting fuels such as Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Piped Natural Gas (PNG), or electric within six months, by July 28.
According to a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) statement referred to in a media report, as of November 28, 2025, 209 bakeries in the city were already running on cleaner fuel, and 57 have made the switch recently. “In the last six months, 75 bakeries have taken the initiative for this change, and another 88 bakeries have applied for Mahanagar Gas,” the BMC, Mumbai’s governing civic body, noted. Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL) is a public company that supplies piped gas.
Some bakeries are yet to comply, caught between heritage, survival, and the high cost of transition. With Mumbai’s intensifying air pollution and the city racing for clean air, small neighbourhood bakeries are bearing a heavy burden, struggling with delays and uneven enforcement.
Court orders bakeries to switch to less-polluting fuels
The link between bakeries and air pollution is not anecdotal. A Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) survey finds that more than half of Mumbai’s bakeries use firewood in ovens. A 2023-2024 report by the Bombay Environment Action Group (BEAG) notes that bakeries in Mumbai contribute to approximately 3.5% of the particulate matter load each day.
In October 2023, Mumbai’s air quality was briefly worse than Delhi’s, the capital city infamous for its poor AQI. While dust and traffic were identified as the main causes, wood-burning by residences, hotels and bakeries were also identified as sources, after the Bombay High Court (HC) took suo motu cognisance of the post-Diwali haze.
Responding to the PIL from 2023, the Bombay HC, in January 2025, ordered all bakeries to shift to cleaner fuels by July 8, later extended to July 28. When bakery owners sought a one-year extension, the court declined the plea on August 22, observing that “hardship to a few is not a ground to deprive the larger section of the society to have a clean and green environment”.
For many small bakery owners, this six-month deadline (January-July 2025) felt impossible. Bakery owners say that to shift to LPG, PNG, or electric ovens means dismantling age-old wood-fired structures, investing hundreds of thousands in new equipment, and navigating multiple permits, depending on the size and production of the bakery, without halting their daily production. “Six months is a short period for so many bakeries in Mumbai to transition,” says Shaikh Sajid Ali Khurshid Ali, who runs Central Bakery in Madanpura, Mumbai Central. “It’s a painstakingly difficult process.” Three months since the deadline passed, bakery owners continue to seek extension, fearing show-cause or shutdown notices.
“Even though the percentage emission contribution of bakeries is really small, bakeries are a growing industry,” notes Gufran Beig, chair professor at National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), IISc and the founder of System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR). “Their impact might not be significant today but with rapid urbanisation, that potential is high for the future. Bakeries are point source, implementing control regulations for point source is much easier as compared to dynamic sources like the transport sector. However, despite low share, point sources are often hot spots where exposure is high,” Beig continues.
Based on SAFAR project data from 2021, emissions were attributed as follows: the power sector accounted for 5%, industries for 13%, biofuels for 15%, windblown dust for 15%, and transport for 31%. The remaining 21% came from other sources, which include bakeries.
An expensive transition
When the HC order came into effect, several bakeries across the city scrambled to comply. “This year, on June 27, we shut down our bakery and on September 5, we reopened with two new electric ovens,” says Sajid Ali from Central Bakery. “We had to outsource products for sales. Some workers temporarily worked in nearby bakeries, while others went home. It was difficult for us to see the dismantling of the wood-fire oven built during our grandfathers’ time, and the hard work our father put in for its maintenance.”
A few metres ahead from the Central Bakery lies the historic Indian Bakery, operating since 1939. Started by Mirza Tafazzul Baig, it is now run by his grandson, Mirza Gayasuddin Baig, who estimates the fuel transition cost to be nearly ₹20 lakhs (₹2 million). “I have a quotation of ₹6 lakhs (₹600,000) for dismantling the old oven, repairing and renovating the place according to the required infrastructure,” says Baig, who is soon to transition to gas ovens. “Each oven’s cost starts from ₹5 lakhs (₹500,000).”
With PNG (piped gas) supply connection unavailable in that area, Baig has to store 12 LPG cylinders, logistically difficult in cramped spaces and an expensive safety risk. Each LPG cylinder weighs 19 kilograms and costs nearly ₹1,700. It needs to be refilled with gas at intervals. The owners say that the recurring costs for the cylinders is not known yet because they have not started production.
Estimates shared by Sajid Ali reveals that before using electric ovens, Central Bakery’s electricity bill would roughly amount to ₹15,000 with additional expense of firewood costing ₹40,000, per month. Ever since he started using electric ovens, the overall energy expense has doubled with the electricity bill now amounting to ₹1,03,000 a month.
Despite these challenges, bakery owners support the transition to curb air pollution. The Bombay Bakers Association president, M. Yakub, recalls the push for cleaner fuels started as early as 2009. “Ever since the government put restrictions on tree cutting, it has become difficult for the bakery owners to access wood.”
“MGL was contacted for the same but nothing fruitful came out from this. When the shortage of wood increased around that period, the bakery owners then had to resort to plywood collected at the site of demolition. However, environmental organisations and authorities say that the plywood, when burnt, is dangerous for health,” shares Yakub. Sixteen years after the first push towards cleaner fuels started, the HC order has set the transition in motion.
Small bakeries struggle
While the large and medium-sized bakeries are finding ways to adapt, small-scale bakeries, many located in informal settlements, face major hurdles transitioning to cleaner fuels. While electric ovens are a clean and safe option, they remain unaffordable. Most units must rely on either LPG cylinders or PNG.
Stocking up to 25 LPG cylinders for three days poses safety risks in cramped spaces. PNG, where gas is delivered through pipelines, is safer and cheaper but is constrained by limited pipelines.
Meanwhile, MGL, the sole distributor of PNG in Mumbai, also faces delays in obtaining permissions to expand coverage, leaving bakers like Baig dependent on LPG cylinders and prompting extension requests.
A former employee from MGL, says on the condition of anonymity that the PNG pipeline provision for 311 bakeries is unlikely to happen in the next one or two years due to complex permissions, poor condition of the roads where the pipes need to be laid, and infrastructural obstacles. Of 213 bakeries feasible for PNG connections, only 82 had registered for them as of October 1.
The source from MGL shares that an MGL survey of 732 bakeries listed by the municipal corporation and bakeries associations, found that only 52 were using PNG, 91 were unsuitable (slated for demolition, closed, or not actively baking), and 65 were untraceable. However, the applicant bakeries say that there are about 750 bakeries in the city of Mumbai and over 2,000 bakeries in the Mumbai metropolitan area.
Talking about some unregistered bakeries in the city, Yakub commented, “Such bakeries will unfortunately have to be shut or at least difficult to seek loans under the scheme. About 90-95% of the bakeries are on the rented premises and most of the unauthorised bakeries are found in slums. Now, to procure loans, how will these bakery owners provide documents of their premises?”
Taking cognisance of the financial obstacles, the BMC held a meeting on September 18 with representatives from multiple departments, planning, health, environment, fire brigade, banks, the World Resources Institute (WRI), and bakery associations. Bakery owners were informed that bakeries can avail a loan of ₹1 crore (₹10 million) and a subsidy of 35% of the project cost, with a maximum limit of ₹10 lakhs (₹1 million), under the central government’s Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme. “The interest varies from 10% to 12%. “So far, I have received five proposals, of which, one is about to be disbursed by the bank,” says Gajanan Jagate, consultant in BMC’s planning department.
Pipeline costs inside bakeries, earlier borne entirely by owners at ₹1-2 lakhs, will now be paid by MGL or can be reimbursed through subsidy, confirmed the source from MGL. This decision was informed to the bakery owners during the meeting. “Any pipeline longer than 100 metres, for which we earlier charged a deposit, is now waived off,” he adds.
Yet, uncertainty remains. Without formal provision for deadline extensions, Yakub says, “If the authorities wish, they can come and take action against any bakery at any time.”
The cost of clean air compliance for small bakeries
The famous Gupta Vada Pav in Chakala, Andheri (East), opens at 8:30 a.m., drawing a diverse crowd: children, adults, autorickshaw drivers, and working professionals. Lalmani Gupta begins preparing pav combinations at 5 a.m. With samosa pav at ₹20 and vada pav at ₹18, he says, “A lot of Mumbai survives on pav.”
The fuel transition, however, is likely to push up these prices. Traditional wood-fired ovens produce 120-150 moulds of ladi pav per batch in 35 minutes. With electric or gas ovens, they produce 80-90 moulds in about 25-30 minutes.
Baig notes that while wood-fired ovens require constant temperature maintenance, electric/gas ovens need only one-time setting, enabling more batches. Yet, higher fuel and production costs may push a ladi of six pavs from ₹15 to ₹18, Baig adds. With 25 or 50 paisa coins now out of circulation, the associations will have to round off prices, impacting affordability.
Bakery associations argue that they are being unfairly targeted, while larger polluters — industries, traffic, and construction — face fewer restrictions. “The construction industry was once also restricted to curb the pollution, but soon came back into action with no restriction,” says Yakub.
According to the BEAG report, “Recent data indicates that construction sites have emerged as the main source of pollution, followed by vehicle and industrial emissions. Air quality in Mumbai deteriorated steadily, with pollution doubling over the last five years (2019-2023) where PM2.5 levels surged by 54.2% between 2019 and 2020, with marginal drops in 2021 and 2022 but a significant spike of 42.1% in 2023.”
While debates continue about the changing taste and texture of the pav post-transition, over time, the consumers and workers are adapting. “When we were kids, there was no yeast; one only made pav with sourdough. Then yeast came into the picture. Now, that’s used to make pav. So, these changes happen. People have adapted to them. Even if the pav is not baked in a wood-burning oven, it’ll still be baked. In time, within a decade, this generation may forget the old taste entirely,” Baig concludes.
Read more: [Commentary] Innovations needed in fossil fuel subsidy to promote clean cooking in India
Banner image: Workers at a bakery get newly baked pav ready for sale. Image by Megha Acharya/Mongabay.
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