Restaurants face LPG supply crisis, NRAI warns of ‘catastrophic closures’

REstaurants crosswise various parts of the rural area feature reported shortage in the provide of commercial message cooking gas, with the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) on Monday urging the Centre to intervene, saying any disruption to LPG cylinder supply will lead to a “catastrophic closure” of restaurants.The development comes amid rising energy costs and supply constraints caused by the ongoing conflict in West Asia.“The restaurant industry is predominantly dependent on commercial LPG for its operations. Any disruption therein will lead to a catastrophic closure of majority of restaurants,” NRAI, which represents around half a million restaurants across the country, said in a letter to the Union petroleum and natural gas ministry.The association pointed out that a March 5 order issued by the Centre directing public sector oil marketing companies to ensure LPG is supplied to domestic consumers, has impacted the deliveries of commercial gas cylinders to restaurants.In Bengaluru, hotel and restaurant operations are likely to be affected from Tuesday, following an abrupt halt in the supply of commercial gas cylinders, the Bangalore Hotels Association (BHA) said on Monday.“Since the gas supply has stopped, the hotels will be closed from tomorrow,” the BHA said in a release.Noting that the supply of commercial gas cylinders stopped on Monday, it said, since the hotel industry is an essential service, common people, students, and medical professionals, who rely on the hotels for daily meals, will be affected.In Gurugram, several restaurants have reported disruption in the supply of commercial LPG cylinders, forcing eateries to consider alternative arrangements such as domestic cylinders or electric cooking equipment.Rohit Arora, manager of a restaurant in Sector 29, said the establishment currently has enough stock for a few days. “Our vendor informed us that commercial LPG deliveries have been paused temporarily. We have backup cylinders that can last about three days. If the situation continues, we may have to shift to residential cylinders or reduce menu items,” he added.In Pune, the civic body has temporarily closed the city’s gas crematoriums following restrictions on the use of LPG components such as propane and butane.The Pune Municipal Corporation cited the Centre’s March 5 order, directing that available propane and butane be prioritised for domestic LPG supply across the country, for its decision to keep its gas crematoriums closed from March 5 until further orders.LPG cylinder booking period increased from 21 to 25 daysMeanwhile, the minimum waiting period for booking a domestic LPG cylinder refill increased from 21 days to 25 days to prevent hoarding and black market, officials familiar with the matter said.They pointed out that an average household generally requires a cooking gas cylinder every six weeks to justify the 25-day booking limit on domestic gas cylinder.“There were instances that people who were earlier booking LPG cylinders in 55 days have started booking cylinders in 15 days,” news agency ANI quoted government sources as saying. “Domestic consumers will always be a priority.”