Restaurants switch to wood fires as Iran war threatens LPG supplies across Indian cities
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Restaurants switch to wood fires as Iran war threatens LPG supplies across Indian cities")
A restaurant in Hyderabad switches to traditional firewood cooking. Photograph: (Screengrab from X/@RathnamNews)
Several commercial kitchens in Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, and other cities have switched to wood fires. They are mostly using scrap lumber as fuel to ensure the availability of some food.
The hospitality sector in a few regions of India has been severely hit and is facing a shortage of LPG cylinders needed to run kitchen stoves, as volatility in Middle East energy supplies intensifies amid the US-Israel war on Iran. Over 33 crore households in India uses Liquified petroleum gas, including lakhs of eateries, which has suddenly become hard to get.
According to a report by NDTV, commercial kitchens in Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, and other cities have switched to wood fires. They are mostly using scrap lumber as fuel to ensure the availability of some food. In some places, the situation has worsened to the point where restaurants have stopped serving certain dishes or replaced items that require more gas to cook with quick fast-food options.
In Karnataka, for instance, the well-known eatery Bangalore Thindies, located opposite the state office of the ruling Indian National Congress, is now offering only coffee and tea. Before the crisis, the outlet had an 11-item menu that included dishes such as dosa, idli, vada, and rice meals.
A cafe owner said that LPG cylinders are still available on the black market, but only at extremely high prices. On Tuesday, hotel owners' associations in Chennai and Bengaluru raised concerns about the issue, stressing that their sector is an 'essential service' and urging the federal government to restore gas supplies. Similar worries are being reported in Mumbai and Kolkata.
Around 20 per cent of eateries in Mumbai and Kolkata have suspended their operations. Meanwhile, the LPG cylinder shortage in Gujarat's Surat has indicated that hotel owners are being forced to pay Rs 2,200 for a cylinder for commercial uses. Prices were increased last week, with the cost of a 14.2 kg LPG cylinder for households rising by Rs 60. A 19-kg commercial cylinder is now priced at Rs 1,883 in New Delhi, Rs 1,835 in Mumbai, Rs 1,990 in Kolkata, and Rs 2,043 in Chennai.
The government extends the waiting period
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To curb hoarding and black-market sales, the government has extended the waiting period between cylinder refills from 21 days to 25 days to prevent hoarding and black marketing. Imported cylinders, meanwhile, are being reserved for critical facilities like hospitals.
On Tuesday, Narendra Modi was briefed on the situation by Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, who had earlier said that India remains in a “comfortable position.” He added that oil refineries have been directed to increase LPG cylinder production for domestic consumption.
The supply pressure is linked to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz during the ongoing US–Israel–Iran conflict. The narrow waterway, over which Iran holds geographical control, is crucial for India’s energy security, as the country imports about 62 per cent of its LPG requirements through this route.
