Hotel and restaurant operations likely to be closed: Industry organization said food will not be served in restaurants in these states due to shortage of LPG.
Delhi. The hoteliers’ association, which is grappling with the shortage of commercial LPG cylinders, on Tuesday said that if the situation does not improve, many hotels and restaurants in Mumbai will have to close their operations in the next two days. Pradeep Shetty, vice president of Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), said similar problems are being reported from Pune, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Delhi, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Amid the ongoing crisis in West Asia, the government has revised the priority list for allocation of domestically produced natural gas and placed LPG production on top along with CNG and piped cooking gas. This has led to a severe shortage of supply for hotels and restaurants using commercial LPG at market price.
Hotel and Restaurant Association (Western India) spokesperson Shetty said that there has been a severe shortage of commercial LPG in the last one week and the supply has almost come to a complete halt in many areas since Monday. “We are also receiving reports of severe shortage from cities like Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad and Nagpur,” he said. States like Delhi, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are facing similar problems.
If the situation does not improve within the next two days, about 50 percent of hotels and restaurants in Mumbai may be forced to temporarily close operations based on the existing stock of gas cylinders available with them.” Shetty said international tourists would be particularly affected in this situation. Small and medium-sized eateries will be the first to be affected, as they typically operate with limited stores.
Although he said there are alternatives to electric stoves for cooking, they are still not practical for most commercial kitchens. “Such a transformation also requires significant cost and infrastructure changes,” Shetty said. At present, the industry has no viable alternative and there is a need for immediate restoration of smooth commercial LPG supply to ensure uninterrupted operations of hotels, restaurants and food service establishments.’
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