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A sudden shortage of commercial LPG cylinders has sparked alarm across India’s hospitality sector, with restaurant associations in Maharashtra and Karnataka warning that eateries could shut down within days if supplies are not restored.
According to industry reports , the disruption has already hit the operations in Mumbai and Bengaluru as hotels and restaurants find it difficult to obtain cooking gas as the world faces global supply disruptions due to the ongoing West Asia warfare involving the United States and Israel strikes on Iran. According to Vijay Shetty the president of the India Hotels and Restaurant Association, the crisis is spreading out at a very high rate and may soon bring the industry to its knees. He states that almost 10-20 percentage of restaurants in Mumbai are already experiencing shortages but the effects may increase dramatically. Shetty threatened that about 60 percent of the restaurants would be impacted tomorrow and the whole industry would be closed down within two days, but the association has already sent a letter of petition to Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Maharashtra Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal.
According to the owners of restaurants, commercial supplies of LPG have but stopped over the course of the week and it is hard to operate the kitchens. Other companies complain that even with low volumes of supply of cylinders, prices have gone up in the open market. A cylinder, whose average price is about Rs 1,750, is being sold close to Rs 1,950 in certain locations. Meanwhile, the domestic LPG delivery has also decelerated, with the waiting times ranging between two and eight days upon booking. The scarcity has also caused panic among the households, as most of the consumers have been in a rush to have refills, which has led to long queues and delays to take place in the distributor outlets. According to dealers, the condition may drive certain commercial outlets towards buying subsidised domestic cylinders in the black market illegally which they assert is very dangerous to the safety of the consumers.
Karnataka has not been spared by the disruption as the Bangalore Hotels Association threatened that the hotel operations would be hit as early as March 10 in case the supply is not resumed. Leaders of the association indicated that restaurants that deliver meals to students on a daily basis, corporate employees and patients might not have any other option other than closing down operations. The ministry of petroleum and natural gas in reaction indicated that oil refineries have been instructed to produce more LPG and redirect more supply to domestic consumption. The supply of LPG to households is made the main priority and a 25 day spacing between the booking of cylinders is also established to avoid hoarding. The government is also seeking alternative sources of imports like the Algerian, Australian, Canadian and Norwegian and a special committee is established to record LPG distribution in restaurants and other non domestic industries that have been suffering due to the crisis.
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