50-60% of restaurants could shut in 2-3 days if commercial LPG supply isn’t resumed: NRAI president

He pointed out the ambiguity. “There’s either a misalignment or ambiguity, where a narrative is being created that LPG commercial cylinders are going to be banned or made unavailable. This is leading to a severe shortage of supply, which in turn is leading to black marketing, hoarding, and prices going up by 1.5 times. The fear within restaurants is about continuity.”

While Daryani understands that the Government’s purpose is to give priority to domestic consumption and to ensure the food intake of citizens, he wants to highlight that “many people depend on restaurant food for their daily meals, so we should fall under essential services”.

Who will be impacted?

Daryani highlighted that it’s not a handful of restaurants impacted by the shortage but the whole industry. “We need clarity on the availability of LPG cylinders for commercial purposes, for restaurants. Otherwise, it’s going to lead to a lot of shutdowns — almost 80 per cent of our member restaurants depend on LPG cylinders. The remaining 20 per cent either have a PNG pipeline, which is largely available in malls or large commercial establishments and not everywhere, because the infrastructure hasn’t been fully developed yet,” he said, adding that while quick-service restaurants like his, to a large extent, rely on induction and therefore will be able to operate.

“But the casual dining restaurants, cloud kitchens, fine dining establishments, and buffet chains, which require large-scale cooking or high flame cooking, are going to be severely impacted, like Barbeque Nation, Mainland China, and Punjab Grill. South Indian food, for instance, cannot be cooked on induction. It’s extremely difficult.”

He further stressed that even if restaurants want to move to induction, “the kitchens are not designed for it. You can’t do wok cooking on induction, and even if you wanted to make the switch, there isn’t the electrical load capacity to support it.” Most kitchens, he added, are designed for gas cooking, and even if one wants to change it now, it will take time, so there will be an interim period of disruption.

When asked if five-star establishments like Taj, ITC, and Hyatt would also be impacted, Daryani said yes. “Their kitchens are completely designed for gas cooking, so yes, they will also be impacted. The Hotel and Restaurant Association has raised concerns, as have associations like the NRAI.”

The NRAI has written to the Ministry for Petroleum and Natural Gas as well as to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and hopes to get some time with them. “We expect to get time with them soon, but the situation at this stage is very, very critical.”

The worst-hit cities for now are Bangalore and Pune. “Bangalore is very badly hit. Some members are already saying they’ve run out of stock. Pune is similarly affected. So Bangalore and Pune seem to be the most impacted right now. Delhi still has supplies for a few days, as do Kolkata and Chennai. Mumbai—I’m getting mixed feedback. Some are saying it’s fine; others are saying it’s difficult. I think Mumbai is the next city on the radar where supplies could get seriously affected,” he said, adding that the situation is quite difficult at the ground level. “It’s a little scary from a business continuity standpoint. I’m not even getting into the P&L (profit and loss) part, and costs going up — that’s the second problem. The larger problem right now is: can you continue your business at all?”

When asked if we are close to being shut down? “I would say 50 to 60 per cent of restaurants could be forced to shut in the next two to three days if the situation doesn’t improve. That’s what I’m hearing from our members — they’ll be forced to shut in a couple of days at most.”

What exactly happened: the timeline

Daryani said that on March 5, a circular came from the Central Government. Saturday was when restaurant owners learned there was going to be a shortage, but because of the World Cup finals and Women’s Day, everyone was business-focused over the weekend.

“By Monday, they had either stopped getting supplies altogether or were having to buy from the black market. We issued a letter to the petroleum industry on Saturday itself. From Monday onwards is when restaurants began complaining about the unavailability of LPG for commercial purposes — and that’s when things really began to escalate,” he shared, adding that this comes off the back of February, which is generally a bad month for the restaurant business. “Everyone was looking forward to the first weekend of March to bounce back, and instead they were faced with this situation.”

Meanwhile, at 10.52 pm on Monday, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas made a post on X saying that it has “issued orders to oil refineries for higher LPG production and using such extra production for domestic LPG use”.

“The ministry has prioritised domestic LPG supply to households and introduced 25 day inter- booking period to avoid hoarding/black marketing. Non domestic supplies from imported LPG is being prioritised to essential non domestic sectors such as Hospitals and Educational institutions. For LPG supply to other non-domestic sectors, a committee of three EDs of OMCs have been constituted to review the representations for LPG supply to restaurants/hotels/other industries,” read the post.

A senior from the restaurant industry said on the condition of anonymity that the Confederation of Indian Industry organised an online meeting on Monday that all major associations attended—including food, but also pharmaceutical, glass, paints and ceramic manufacturers, among others.

“The Government’s position is that it will take four to eight weeks from the war ending or from normal supplies resuming for the situation to normalise. So even if the war ends tomorrow, it will take four to eight weeks for LPG availability to ease. It’s not an overnight fix,” the person said, adding that it was a closed-door meeting.

‘Reports of LPG shortages from Delhi, Karnataka and Telangana’

Pradeep Shetty, vice-president of the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) and spokesperson for the Hotel and Restaurant Association (Western India) (HRAWI), echoed similar concerns.

“If the situation does not improve within the next two days, nearly 50 per cent of hotels and restaurants in Mumbai may be forced to temporarily shut operations depending on the stock of cylinders they currently have. This will especially affect international tourists, both those already here and those planning to visit the country,” he said. “Smaller and medium-sized eateries will be the first to be impacted, as they typically operate with limited reserves.”

He said industry bodies are already receiving reports of severe shortages from Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad and Nagpur, while similar disruptions are being reported in Delhi, Karnataka, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh.

“While alternatives such as electric or induction-based cooking are gradually emerging, they are not yet viable for most commercial kitchens that rely on high-intensity, fast-paced cooking methods typical of Indian cuisine. Transitioning to such systems also involves significant cost and infrastructure changes,” he said.

“At present, the industry has no practical alternative and urgently requires restoration of uninterrupted commercial LPG supply to ensure that hotels, restaurants and food service establishments can continue operating without disruption,” he added.