An employee checks empty LPG cylinders inside Vidyarthi Bhavan restaurant, in Bengaluru on March 10, 2026. Restaurants and hotels have warned of shutdowns amid disruptions in commercial LPG supply, following the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Hoteliers across various States have flagged shortage of cooking gas supply and have urged the government to ensure uninterrupted supply of fuel.
The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR), Bengaluru Hotels Association, Chennai Hotels Association, Chennai Tea Shops Association, the Hotel & Restaurant Association of Odisha (HRAO), and several hoteliers have warned that non-availability of cooking gas would force many units to shut their shops.
“The restaurant industry is predominantly dependent on commercial LPG for its operations,” NRAI said in a statement. “Any disruption therein will lead to a catastrophic closure of majority of restaurants.”
Several small eateries in Bengaluru limited their services to tea and coffee on Tuesday (March 10, 2026). The Sree Annapoorna Sree Gowrishankar Group, a Coimbatore-based prominent eatery chain, put out a notice on Monday night (March 9, 2026) informing customers that it will limit its menu to essential items, and the availability of some items will be restricted to specific hours of the day.
Around 20% of hotels and restaurants in Mumbai have shut down, with associations projecting that nearly 50% of hotels and restaurants in Mumbai will shut down in two days if the situation doesn’t improve. “We understand the reason but instead of blanket stoppage, the supply should continue for at least 25%, so the hotels can survive somehow,” a representative of AHAR, the apex body for the hospitality trade in Maharashtra, said.
Shhul Hameed, general secretary of the All Kerala Caterers’ Association, who runs Foodwey Catering in Kozhikode, says at least seven cylinders are needed daily to keep the business running, and he has received only two in the last two days. There is some respite for hoteliers in Kerala as the demand is subdued in March due to Ramadan fasting by Muslims, Hindus avoiding functions in the Malayalam months of Kumbam and Meenam.
The cooking fuel shortage has affected paying guest accommodations and hostels in Hyderabad. Managers and supervisors of large paying guest facilities, particularly in the IT hubs such as Gachibowli, Kukatpally and Madhapur, fear disruption to meals preparation. “The supply has dropped drastically, by 75%. If we used to order around 100 cylinders earlier, we are now receiving barely 20 to 25,” says Lakshmi of Amulya Grand Luxury Women’s PG in Gachibowli. “If this continues for long, we may struggle to cook meals for all our residents.”
“We were aware of the prevailing conflict in West Asia. But, we never thought that we would face such a sudden crisis,” HRAO chairman J.K. Mohanty told mediapersons in Bhubaneswar.
Close to 90% of India’s LPG import and 30% of natural gas requirements are routed through Strait of Hormuz, which is now shut by Iran.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has set up a committee to review supply shortages of commercial LPG. “For LPG supply to other non-domestic sectors, a committee of three Executive Directors (EDs) of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have been constituted to review the representations for LPG supply to restaurants/hotels/other industries,” the Ministry said in a post on X.
Invoking the Essential Commodities Act, the Ministry on March 6, directed refineries to maximise LPG output and asked the OMCs to focus on domestic gas supply. It has also extended LPG refill booking cycle to 25 days from 21 days. The next day, the prices of non-subsidised domestic LPG cylinders were increased by ₹60, the first one since April last year. The price of commercial LPG was also raised by ₹114.5 per 19 kg cylinder.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in a letter to Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri suspected the shortage of commercial LPG could be due to the Ministry’s March 9 order prioritising LPG production for domestic consumers. “While the intention behind the order — to ensure uninterrupted supply to households — was appreciated, its implementation had led to an unintended shortage of commercial LPG in Bengaluru,” he said.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said he has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking necessary alternative arrangements to address shortage. “I have also emphasised that the Union Government must ensure that the LPG Cylinder shortage arising from this conflict does not affect the public, commercial establishments, or MSME industries in Tamil Nadu,” he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
Published – March 10, 2026 03:51 pm IST
