LPG Crisis: The Liquefied Petroleum Gas or LPG cylinder shortage due to the war in the Middle East has severely impacted the operations of restaurants and hotels across the country as thousands of eateries reported a fuel supply gap.
According to a report, the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) has reached out to the government raising concerns about a shortage of commercial LPG cylinders.
The association has reportedly sought clarity on the sustained supply.
The restaurants have also started looking for alternatives like electricity-based induction cooking, said NRAI president and Wow Momo founder Sagar Daryani. However, he warned that this might not work for all.
Over 10,000 Eateries Affected In Pune Alone
As of Tuesday evening, about 10,000 eateries including cloud kitchens and quick service delivery eateries have shut down operations or are now working at half capacity, said Saili Jahagirdar, Pune chapter head of NRAI as per a report by ET Tech.
Zomato, Swiggy To Take Hit
Amid the production shortage induced by the LPG gas supply crunch, the online food delivery platforms such as Zomato and Swiggy are also expected to take a hit, said a senior executive of a food delivery service.
“Bengaluru and Pune are the worst affected as of now (around Tuesday noon). Restaurants are running out of gas. Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Kolkata are relatively better for now but may deteriorate in a day or two,” the executive warned.
Food Delivery System At Risk
Hotel associations in Bengaluru and Chennai have reportedly put out notices saying that thousands of restaurants have been forced to shut down amid the prevailing gas crunch.
“I have already shut down one of our outlets in Pune and can operate the other only until tomorrow’s first half,” said Jahagirdar, who also owns Zillionth Bistro.
“Our vendors are not taking orders, and our staff will be affected if things don’t normalise soon,” he added.
