File photo of Minister for Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs KH Muniyappa. | Photo credit: The Hindu
In what could ease the commercial shortage of LPG for educational institutions and hotels, Food and Civil Supplies Minister KH Muniyappa said on Monday (March 23, 2026) that the government will be able to supply 20% of the daily requirement of the hotel industry with immediate effect.
Urging the hotel industry to make some adjustments in view of the shortage of commercial pressure cylinders, he said, “On an average, hotels in the state used about 45,000 commercial pressure cylinders. After today’s (Monday) discussion with the oil marketing companies, it was decided that about 10,000 commercial pressure cylinders can be supplied to the hotel industry.”
Power supply
According to the minister, the current supply of 1,000 commercial bottles will not help much. He also said that in light of these experiences, sustainable energy sources, including solar and biomass, should be looked at in the future.
In a statement to the Legislative Council, the minister said that the center has approved a total supply of about 16,105 commercial bottles per day. “About 4,200 bottles will be supplied to educational institutions, 1,200 bottles to public sector undertakings and 500 to agricultural and allied activities. About 200 bottles will be reserved for emergency use. Up to 10,000 bottles will be given to hotels, industrial canteens, restaurants and dhabas, among others.”
Letter to the center
Mr. Muniyappa said that after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah wrote to the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the state government received a communication from them. On Monday, a meeting was also held with representatives of oil marketing companies on the total supply of commercial cylinders, he added.
The minister further urged people to register with GAIL for pipeline gas supply. “GAIL has five thousand families in its network. They need to know the demand to increase the connection for piped gas. Registration has to be done within a week and details will be shared later.”
He warned people against putting pressure on bottle distributors and said the reservation time for bottles in urban and rural areas continued to remain at 25 and 45 days.
Left to state and center: HC
Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court on Monday agreed with the Union government’s view that the issue of reduced supply of commercial LPG cylinders should be left to central and state government officials as it hinges on a sensitive international supply chain issue linked to the current geopolitical crisis in West Asia.
Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum disposed of a petition filed by the Bengaluru Hotels’ Association on insufficient supply of commercial LPG cylinders to restaurants across the state, noting the submission of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, that a division bench of the Bombay High Court had last week left it to the wisdom of executives to resolve the issue of LPG supply through diplomatic channels as it was a solution to an international crisis.
Published – 23 March 2026 16:18 IST
