A ship-sized hole in the budget

The article details the severe impact of rising fuel (petrol, diesel, LPG) and food prices (cooking oil, pulses, alternative fuels like firewood) on household budgets and small businesses across Tamil Nadu. It highlights how daily wage earners, gig workers, small restaurants, cloud kitchens, and IT professionals are struggling with increased living and operational costs, while their incomes remain stagnant. Factors contributing to this include Union government fuel price hikes, LPG supply shortages and diversions, and global diversion of cooking oil stocks for biodiesel production. The public is calling for urgent government intervention to regulate these price increases.