E-Paper
Restaurants tweak menus as LPG crisis worsens
The government prioritising domestic gas supply to households has impacted the deliveries of commercial gas cylinders to restaurants.
New Delhi/Ahmedabad/Thiruvananthapuram: Restaurants and hotels across the country have been severely affected by the shortage of commercial LPG cylinders amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia, with several eateries switching to crisis menus featuring faster-cooking items and coal-based tandoor food to avoid looming shutdown.
Industry insiders pointed out that the government prioritising domestic gas supply to households has impacted the deliveries of commercial gas cylinders to restaurants. However, the Centre and oil companies said the gas stock was sufficient and there was no cause for panic. The government has also issued direction to increase LPG production by 10%.
Jayanand Nayak, 45, owner of Ruchi Hotel in Mumbai’s Parel, said he needs three LPG cylinders every day and was receiving two till Monday. “I haven’t received any today,” Nayak said, adding he has cut down on menu, removing items like Dosa that need lot of cooking gas.
Rahul Rohra, 41, of Veranda in Bandra and Khar, said high-flame cooking, especially for Pan-Asian and Oriental dishes, has almost come to a halt because induction cannot replicate that intensity. Some kitchens have shifted to induction and electric cookers, he said, adding: “We should be allowed to use charcoal to cook for the time being.”
Shiladiya Chaudhury, who owns the popular restaurant chains Oudh 1590 and Chowman, said they are focussing on tandoor food cooked in coal-based ovens. “Efforts are being made to use electric ovens as an alternative for other items but they are not very efficient,” Chaudhury said.
Pralhad Sukhtankar, president of the Goa chapter of the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), said the commercial LPG supply has come to a halt. “Distributors have switched off their phones and some restaurants have already closed down. Hundreds more will close unless there is some intervention,” he said.
Samish, manager at Amrutam vegetarian restaurant in Nanthancode, Thiruvananthapuram, said they have only 2-3 cylinders left in their stock. “We are serving only tandoor items as serving others on the ala-carte menu are difficult. We are revising the menu,” he said, adding if the situation continues, they will have to shut down.
In Himachal Pradesh, the timing of the crisis hit right before the summer tourism. Anil Walia, adviser to Shimla hotels and tourism stakeholders, said they were staring “close down” with many hotels curtailing their menus. “This is bad news before the start of summer tourism season.”
Sanjay Gupta, manager of Super Gas Agency in Attawa village near Chandigarh, said no new cylinders had been received in the past three days. “Restaurant owners are getting a little worried as they cannot stock or hoard commercial cylinders,” he said.
Meanwhile, NRAI issued an advisory to member restaurants asking them to tweak menus.
“The ongoing geopolitical developments have led to severe disruptions in the supply chain of commercial LPG...NRAI urges all members to immediately adopt fuel conservation measures to ensure operational continuity,” association president Sagar Daryani said on Tuesday.
“Immediate LPG conversation measures-- rationalise menus by temporarily prioritising dishes that require lower gas usage or shorter cooking cycles, train kitchen staff daily on gas conservation discipline, review operating hours and consider shorter hours in low-demand locations, use alternative cooking solutions and introduce limited crisis menus with faster cooking items,” the two-page advisory added.
Panic enters household
Several people, especially homemakers, raised concern over long delays in booking domestic LPG. On Monday, the minimum waiting period for booking a domestic LPG cylinder refill has been increased from 21 days to 25 days, with officials saying the move intended to prevent hoarding and black market.
Sampa Choudhury, Kolkata-based homemaker, said regulated supply of domestic LPG may not work for large families like hers. “The government says we cannot place an order for the next cylinder before 25 days. That won’t work for me as there are 12 people in my house. I have started using an induction oven,” she said.
Nirmal Sohata, a homemaker at Chandigarh’s Sector 38, said she was facing problem in the online gas bookings. “We have had to visit the gas agency in person to book LPG cylinder,” she claimed.
In Bengaluru, the paying guest accommodation body termed the situation “grave”, saying they have cooking gas stock for only a few days. “Tens of thousands of professionals and students, staying in paying guest accommodations, rely on hotels for food. With the shutdown, they will have to fend for themselves,” Arun Kumar DT, president of the PG Owners’ Welfare Association, said. Bengaluru is estimated to have about 15,000 PG establishments housing over a million residents, including professionals working in the city.
BS Sharma, LPG distributor association vice-president in Madhya Pradesh, said there is panic booking by people and the government has brought in measures to ensure everyone gets cooking gas. Echoing him, Satyajit Roy, manager at Ranchi’s Shashi Chand Gas Agency, said they would face problem in distributing domestic LPG cylinder even in 25 days if supplies does not improve.
At Khanna Gas Agency in Punjab’s Sangrur, salesman Bunty Singh said there was shortage of cylinders and they were not able to meet the daily demand of 400 to 500 cylinders. “It is because of supply constraints,” he said.
Sanjay Bhandari, executive director and state head of Indian Oil Corporation in Lucknow, said oil companies have redirected supply toward household consumers. “Gas agencies have been instructed to focus primarily on household cylinders to ensure the common man is not affected,” he said. LPG Distributor Association national vice president RK Gupta said commercial cylinders are still being supplied to hospitals, educational institutions and other emergency service providers.
Industry also hit
In Rajasthan, factories producing crockery and metal products, running on gas, have asked employees to go on leave. Manager of a leading crockery manufacturing company, Mahendra Saini, said they had to close their Jaipur plant as no gas has been supplied for the last two days. “We had to stop our production and asked employees to go on leave,” he added. A labourer said the company will not pay salary for this period. “If the crisis prolongs, our families will suffer,” the worker said.
In Gujarat, the ceramic industry which runs on propane gas — a key component of LPG — has been badly impacted. Sandip Kundariya, owner of two ceramic factories in Morbi, has shut down both units due to non-availability of propane gas. He added that at least 100 ceramic factories have already shut down in the last few days.
Officials in multiple states, including Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, said that civil supplies officials have been asked to monitor the situation.
Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav said the state has decided to form a three-member panel to monitor the gas and oil supply. “There is no need for anyone to worry or panic about food, gas or oil supplies. Officials have been asked to ensure the best possible management in the state,” he said.
Kerala’s food and civil supplies minister, GR Anil, said they have urged the Centre to ease norms for supplying commercial LPG to schools, colleges and hospital canteens.
“We have also decided to ask the Union about relaxing restrictions on distribution of LPG among hotels and restaurants based on the current stock.”
