From switching to menu items cooked on coal or wood grills to sourcing black-marketed cylinders at twice the price, restaurants and street food vendors are scrambling as the ongoing Middle East crisis disrupts petroleum supply chains, raising concerns of a cooking gas shortage in India.
Days after the Centre invoked the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, to ensure liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), piped natural gas (PNG) for households and compressed natural gas (CNG) for vehicles take precedence over other natural gas-consuming sectors, India’s LPG-dependent food industry is grappling with dwindling supplies and long queues, forcing many to sharply cut menus or temporarily shut operations. This comes as the Iran crisis has choked global supply chains, critically affecting, among other things, oil, gas and fertilisers.
In Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka, hotels have curtailed operations, some limiting menus to coffee and tea. Amid continuing uncertainty, Ramesh Chandra, a hotel owner in Bengaluru’s suburban Kengeri, is unsure whether he will open Friday. He typically uses 2-4 cylinders a day and, with oil companies increasing the minimum waiting period from 21-25 days, now has only 4-5 left. “I will continue the operations till I run out. I’m also making efforts to get a supply of cylinders but I don’t know whether I will open the hotel tomorrow,” he says.
In Pune, the growing shortage has led to leaner menus and even restaurant closures. “Some restaurants switched to electrical and induction cookers. Maharashtrian and Punjabi food is being made on coal or wood grills at some places,” Saili Jahagirdar, Pune Chapter Head of the National Restaurants Association of India, said. “They are transitioning and working on reduced menus. Snacks centres or joints that cannot shift to electric are shut. It’s a mix now.”
The shortage has also affected the black market, with restaurant owners being told there is “no stock for even black marketing”. “I purchased three commercial cylinders at double the rate three days ago. But now there is no stock left at all in Pune. Some black marketing was going on before, but now nothing is left,” said the owner of one restaurant. In Ahmedabad, street vendors say they are trying to secure cylinders through “informal” channels. “Earlier an LPG cylinder would cost around Rs 1,800/ Rs 1,900. Now, they are quoting Rs 2,500/ Rs 3,000, and some are even asking for Rs 4,000,” Magan Patidar, who runs Mahadev Rajwad, part of a tea stall chain in Ahmedabad, said.
Gas agencies, however, dismiss these claims, saying there has been “panic booking” by hotel and restaurant owners. “Restaurant and hotel owners who are being quoted prices as high as Rs 4,000 (in the informal market) frequently approach the agency out of desperation to keep their businesses running,” a representative of Priya Gas in Ahmedabad said. On black marketing allegations, he said: “Since the agencies are not receiving filled commercial stock from the firms or the government, there is simply no supply available to divert into a black market. We have been forced to stop providing them (hotels and restaurants) with fuel due to the current policy shift.”
Consumers also say they face problems while booking. “The online booking system is not responding,” Ram Kumar, a consumer from Ludhiana, said. “People say that the software is down, so what is the point of saying that there is no shortage of domestic cylinders?”
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In Kolkata, where the price of commercial cylinders has risen three-fold to Rs 4,500-5,000 from the earlier Rs 1,600-1,800, several caterers and restaurant owners have switched to wood cooking.
Meanwhile, chief ministers and political leaders sought the Centre’s intervention. In a letter to Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri Tuesday, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said several hotel and restaurant associations in Bengaluru were unable to procure commercial LPG cylinders, and “many establishments are expressing concern that they may have to temporarily shut operations if supplies are not restored soon”. “…Choultries (wedding halls), hostels and event venues that rely on commercial LPG for food preparation are also facing uncertainty, particularly with scheduled social and community events,” the letter said.
In Kolkata, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sought to pin the blame on the Ministry of Petroleum. Gas, she claimed, was not in the hands of the West Bengal government. “This situation has arisen due to the wrong decision of the Ministry of Petroleum… Gas supply should not be stopped… They need to think about people first. It is in the hands of the Centre. We want the Central government to take immediate action.”
Distributors, facing pressure, have also sought an increase in commercial cylinder supply. “The LPG companies, state governments and consumers are holding distributors responsible, which is unfair. I would urge the LPG companies to increase supply…,” Satender Singh, president of the LPG Distributors Association (Haryana), said.
