Hotel associations in Bengaluru and Chennai have reported LPG outages, warning that restaurants in the two cities concerned may have to halt operations.
Several hotel associations across India have reported a shortage of commercial LPG cylinders, just days after commercial and domestic LPG cylinder prices were increased nationwide. Hotel associations in Bengaluru and Chennai reported the unrest, warning that restaurants in the two cities concerned may have to halt operations on Tuesday, March 10, if LPG supplies are not restored.
This development comes amid rising global oil prices due to the ongoing conflict between Iran and the United States, which has sparked unrest across the Middle East. This situation has raised fears of a further rise in energy prices, given Iran’s targeting of the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping lane through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported.
Are Bengaluru and Chennai restaurants closed?
The Chennai Hotels Association and Bangalore Hotels Association on Monday claimed that commercial LPG supply to restaurants in both cities has taken a huge hit. “Due to the disruption of gas supply, hotels will be closed from tomorrow,” the association said in Bengaluru, according to the news agency. PTI.
Moreover, the authority also said that the interruption in operations could affect the general public, students and medical professionals, who depend on hotels for their daily meals.
The Chennai Hotels Authority also issued a similar statement, seeking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in the matter. The authority said in a tweet on Twitter: “Commercial gas distributors have completely stopped supplying cylinders, as they do not have stock, and as a result, many restaurants are forced to close.”
It also said that existing party bookings made by hotels will be affected, along with food supply to IT parks and college hostels.
Apart from these hotel associations in Bengaluru and Chennai, the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) also urged government intervention as it warned of the “catastrophic closure” of restaurants.
“The restaurant industry mostly depends on commercial LPG for its operations. Any interruption in it will lead to catastrophic closure of the majority of restaurants,” the NRAI said, as reported by HT earlier.
Gurugram, Mumbai hoteliers left worried
The southern cities mentioned above are not the only ones facing major disruption to their hotel operations. Restaurants in Gurugram and Mumbai have also reported shortages of commercial LPG, with some reportedly considering alternative arrangements.
“Our vendor has informed us that commercial LPG deliveries have been temporarily halted. We have spare cylinders that can last about three days. If the situation continues, we may have to shift to residential cylinders or reduce menu items,” Rohit Arora, manager of a restaurant in Gurugram, told HT.
According to NDTV According to the report, restaurants in areas like Dadar, Andheri and Matunga have dropped slow-cooking items in their menus and shortened their opening hours in order to save on commercial LPG.
Meanwhile, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has temporarily shut down the city’s gas burners and directed to prioritize available propane and butane for domestic LPG supplies across the country.
What did the government say?
Amid fears of rising oil prices and reports of LPG shortages in hotels in India, the government issued a statement on Monday, ordering oil refineries to increase LPG production and use this additional production for domestic use.
“The Ministry has prioritized domestic LPG supplies to households and introduced a 25-day internal reservation period to avoid hoarding and black marketing,” the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said in a statement. The ministry also said that a committee has been formed to review offers for supplying LPG to restaurants.
High prices for liquefied gas cylinders for commercial use $115 and for home use $60 last week.
Poorva Joshi is a senior content producer with nearly five years of experience in the field of journalism. It covers Indian politics and geopolitics, with an emphasis on diplomatic relations, trade negotiations and economic policy between countries. She previously worked at India Today, CNN-News18 and India TV. Over the years, she has reported extensively on major national and international developments, including the Indian Airlines plane crash, the Pahalgam terror attack, India-US trade tensions, tensions in the Middle East, high-profile crime stories in India, multiple state Assembly elections, and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. She led the live blog of the Bihar Assembly elections, which attracted over a million users to the Hindustan Times website. Her reporting on trade tensions and tariffs between India and the US has continuously increased readership and engagement on the platform. In addition to reporting, she has spent much of her career leading newsroom transformations, ideating stories, editing and fine-tuning copy, seeing coverage from planning to publication, along with writing original articles. At HT, she received the Insta Award for being the top contributor to the HT News team in November.Read more
