Hotel and restaurant owners in Tamil Nadu, who spoke to news agency PTI about the ongoing shortage of commercial gas cylinders for cooking amid the war in West Asia, said the development brought back memories of the Covid-19 crisis when lockdowns were imposed.
Several southern cities, including Chennai and Bengaluru, have expressed concern over lack of commercial supply of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as the central government has taken steps to temporarily prioritize cooking gas cylinders for high-priority sectors such as education and hospitals.
After the Iran-Israel-US war and the disruption of the main energy transport routes, including the Strait of Hormuz, the price of LPG cylinders was increased last Saturday. Household cooking gas prices have gone up ₹60, while commercial LPG rates have been hiked ₹115.
Several restaurants have reduced the number of food items on their menus to cope with the LPG commercial crisis.
A situation similar to the COVID-19 lockdown is returning
“This is like the second lockdown imposed by COVID-19 for us. We are restricting the use of LPG bottles. We have reduced the number of food items. For Dosa, tea or coffee, the cooker should receive LPG continuously. Now we have reduced the number of pieces and we are providing food only in limited number,” the chairman of the popular restaurant chain told PTI.
When asked, he said, “We expect to run for one or two days with the existing stock. If there is no stock of commercial LPG cylinders, we will have no choice but to shut down. A situation similar to the Covid-19 lockdown is returning.”
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At the same time, another prominent Sri Ananda outlet in Chennai on Tuesday informed customers through a notice on its menu that food availability was severely limited due to shortage of commercial LPG cylinders.
“All these days we have been functioning without any crisis in the supply of LPG cylinders. Today we have reduced the list of food items offered to reduce consumption of LPG cylinders. We have stopped preparing fried rice, side dishes and appam as these items require more LPG. We don’t know how long this (supply crisis) will continue,” the official said.
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What did the hotel association ask the center for?
On March 7, the Tamil Nadu Hotels Association, which represents hotels and restaurants across the state, urged the Center to withdraw its directive asking oil marketing companies to stop supply of commercial LPG cylinders.
A day earlier, on March 6, the government invoked rarely used emergency powers to order oil refineries to increase LPG production to ensure sufficient supplies of domestic cooking gas and prevent possible disruptions from the escalating conflict in West Asia.
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What has the government said about LPG supplies?
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas announced that oil refineries have been ordered to increase LPG production, with additional production diverted for domestic cooking gas needs.
To prevent “hoarding and black marketing”, the ministry has also introduced a 25-day gap between LPG bookings.
In a post on X, the ministry said “non-domestic supply from imported LPG is prioritized over critical non-domestic sectors such as hospitals and educational institutions.”
He further added that a panel comprising three CEOs of oil marketing companies has been constituted to examine the demand for LPG supply from restaurants, hotels and other industries. “For supply of LPG to other non-domestic sectors, a committee of three managing directors of OMCs (Oil Marketing Companies) has been constituted to review the representation for supply of LPG to restaurants/hotels/other industries,” he said.
