Hoteliers across various States in the country have flagged shortage of cooking gas supply and have urged the government to ensure uninterrupted supply of fuel.
The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR), Bengaluru Hotels Association, Chennai Hotels Association, Chennai Tea Shops Association, the Hotel & Restaurant Association of Odisha (HRAO), and several hoteliers have warned that non-availability of cooking gas would force many units to shut their shops.
“The restaurant industry is predominantly dependent on commercial LPG for its operations,” NRAI said in a statement. “Any disruption therein will lead to a catastrophic closure of majority of restaurants.”
Bengaluru is witnessing disruptions in the supply of commercial LPG cylinders, affecting several eateries across the city and triggering concerns among both businesses and households.
On Tuesday (March 10), a number of small restaurants limited their services to “only tea and coffee” after being informed by gas dealers that refilling of commercial cylinders had not taken place since March 7. However, around 10–15% of establishments using piped gas from GAIL (India) Limited are continuing operations without disruption.
The Bengaluru Hotels Association had earlier warned that if supply is not restored soon, establishments may be forced to halt food services, as most small eateries rely heavily on LPG for cooking and use multiple cylinders each day.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in a letter to Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri suspected the shortage of commercial LPG could be due to the Ministry’s March 9 order prioritising LPG production for domestic consumers. “While the intention behind the order — to ensure uninterrupted supply to households — was appreciated, its implementation had led to an unintended shortage of commercial LPG in Bengaluru,” he said.
Around 20% of hotels and restaurants in Mumbai have shut down, with associations projecting that nearly 50% of hotels and restaurants in Mumbai will shut down in two days if the situation does not improve. “We understand the reason but instead of blanket stoppage, the supply should continue for at least 25%, so the hotels can survive somehow,” a representative of AHAR, the apex body for the hospitality trade in Maharashtra, said.
While some large restaurants in Delhi-NCR said they have not yet been impacted by the shortage in commercial LPG because they have a bank of four to six extra cylinders, smaller outlet owners said that they are not getting regular supply due to longer waiting period and are forced to buy in the black market.