LPG crisis: No respite for restaurants yet

MUMBAI/BENGALURU: The restaurant industry is struggling to run regular operations due to the meagre supplies of LPG cylinders . With the govt’s move to hike commercial LPG allocation to up to 70%, it will take some time before the measure actually translates into sustained supply, executives said. “Supply is still hugely limited and erratic. A feeling of uncertainty looms large,” said Anurag Katriar, founder at Indigo Hospitality. The key question is how quickly this revised allocation will translate into on-ground availability, said Pradeep Shetty, vice-president at Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI). A walk along Indiranagar’s 12th Main, known for its cluster of independent restaurants, reflects the strain. “It is all hand-to-mouth at this point,” said Nikhil Gupta, who runs brands including The Pizza Bakery and Paris Panini . The move doesn’t directly help the restaurant sector which is still getting 20%-30% of LPG supplies, said Sagar Daryani, co-founder & CEO at Wow! Momo Foods and president at National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI). State-wise, the supply situation varies with some such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan restricting allocation for restaurants, hurting the sector , Daryani said.In Tamil Nadu, about 30% of the restaurants are not operating on a daily basis due to supply constraints. “The struggle is still there. Vendors are charging more for cylinders. Maybe, within a week, we will get to know how far the move helps us,” said Ravi Muthukrishnan, president at Chennai Hotels Association. The state govts across the country need to put restaurants on priority and then OMCs and their distribution partners have to work diligently to ensure equitable distribution amongst eateries, said Katriar.For Speciality Restaurants which owns brands such as Mainland China and Oh! Calcutta, the situation is a bit better now and the company has been able to secure some supplies of LPG cylinders. “The move will definitely help us. But given the uncertainty, we have reduced our dependence on LPG and PNG and added a lot of induction cooktops. We are at least able to run our kitchens now,” said founder Anjan Chatterjee.