New Delhi/Chennai, March 10 – Shorter menus, cold stoves, and dining out suddenly becoming more difficult. The West Asia conflict is impacting restaurants across India, with the looming threat of a shortage of commercial LPG forcing eateries to innovate – quickly – or face closure.
As the ongoing conflict disrupts global fuel supplies, including India's LPG, the government has prioritized domestic cooking gas for households, leading to a shortage for hotels and restaurants that rely on commercial LPG.
The prospect of closed kitchens, lost jobs, and many people dependent on outside food is a real concern, according to industry insiders as they prepare to address the crisis.
Many establishments could be closed within days.
Desperate measures include menus with fewer items, food that can be cooked using electrical appliances, and limiting the sale of everyday staples like puris, dosas, tea, and coffee. From Delhi to Chennai and Mumbai to Kolkata, these stories are coming from across the country.
Many restaurateurs in Tamil Nadu, for example, expected their existing LPG supply to last for one or two days and said they were forced to reduce their menu.
"It's like a second COVID-19 lockdown for us," said the head of a popular restaurant chain anonymously to