Restaurants will have no option but to shut shop if supply is not restored,” he said.In its Tuesday advisory, NRAI told restaurateurs to “introduce limited crisis menus with faster-cooking items,” prioritise “dishes that require lower gas usage” and “communicate transparently with customers if menu availability is temporarily affected.”The shortage of commercial LPG turned grim over the past week, with intermittent disruptions escalating into a near complete halt in supply in several regions since Monday, Kalra said.Larger establishments and five-star hotels, which usually have gas banks with a capacity of a week or two have expressed concern, while smaller pubs and bars that depend on daily supplies are worst hit.“If the situation escalates further and availability tightens significantly, the restaurant industry may face serious operational challenges,” NRAI president Sagar Daryani said in the advisory, which also called on chains to coordinate with fellow restaurateurs on best practices.The supply squeeze began after a March 5 notification by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas that prioritised supplies of domestic cooking gas, saying that all public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) should ensure that LPG is supplied and marketed solely to homes. Immediately after, distributors began to curb commercial LPG to restaurants or hiking prices by up to 30%.“While supplies have reduced drastically and prices have shot up, the biggest issue is lack of clarity,” said Anurag Katriar, managing director of Indigo Hospitality.Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) said Tuesday afternoon that “in light of current geopolitical disruptions affecting global fuel supply, steps have been taken to enhance LPG production and prioritise its availability for domestic consumers and essential non-domestic sectors such as hospitals and educational institutions.”Requests from other non-domestic sectors will be reviewed by a committee of OMC executive directors and prioritised based on merit, necessity and product availability, IOC said.Royal Orchid Hotels chairman Chander K Baljee said the chain has a few days' stock.“Smaller restaurants depend on daily supplies and feed hundreds of people every day,” he said. Establishments cannot switch to alternatives overnight.”NRAI’s advisory added that restaurants that are close to each other should share resources such as centralised gravies, sauces and pre-prepared items besides monitoring daily LPG consumption while tracking usage per outlet.Nirmal PV, co-founder of Mannheim Craft Brewery in Bengaluru, said his outlet and larger establishments have gas supplies for a week but smaller restaurants are worst hit, and their numbers are in the tens of thousands in the city alone.Supply shortages or price hikes could disrupt functioning across the country, said KB Kachru, president, Hotel Association of India (HAI), and chairman, Radisson Hotel Group, South Asia.“As gas supply is critical to the operation of the hospitality sector, we urge the government to treat our industry as an essential service and ensure supplies without disruption,” he said.
Author: Ratna Bhushan and Anumeha Chaturvedi
Published at: 2026-03-11 00:00:00
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