Middle East conflict triggers LPG concerns for city’s hospitality sector

KOLKATA: On a normal day, 53-year-old Dhriti Banerjee cooks for around 250 people from her home in Bansdroni in South Kolkata as part of her home-delivery food service, her only source of livelihood since her husband’s death six years ago.

However, the sudden disruption in LPG cylinder supply has severely affected her operations. “If the shortage continues, I will have to shut down my business within a few days,” she said.

Her struggle reflects the growing concerns among small and large players in the hospitality sector facing a shortage of commercial LPG cylinders amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

After several hotels and restaurants in Mumbai and Bengaluru were forced to temporarily shut down due to cooking gas supply disruptions linked to the war, restaurant kitchens in Kolkata are also beginning to feel the pressure. Swastik Naag, who owns several pubs, including Traffic Gastropub in Kolkata, said the shortage is already creating operational challenges. “Each of our outlets requires around 25 to 30 cylinders a month, roughly one a day for kitchen operations. Due to the shortage, we are carefully managing consumption by reducing wastage and balancing usage. In some cases, we are shifting certain cooking processes to induction. If the situation continues, it could become a serious concern for Kolkata’s F&B sector,” he said.

Prateek Didwania, who runs several coffee-led destinations in the city, said one of his outlets, Yours Truly Coffee Roaster, operates entirely on induction. “We cannot store cylinders beyond a certain limit due to fire safety rules, so chefs now have to be extremely cautious about gas usage. Induction may seem like the only substitute, but it consumes more electricity and shifting completely would require logistical changes. But coffee can always be served,” he said. Didwania also warned that the crisis could push up raw material costs, further impacting the hospitality sector.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Union government invoked the Essential Commodities Act to ensure an uninterrupted supply of domestic cooking gas and directed refineries and petrochemical units to maximise LPG production. In Kolkata, five-star hotels refrained from commenting on the LPG shortage. Debaditya Chaudhury, managing director of several eateries, including Chowman, said the situation appears more severe in other metros, though Kolkata has not yet been hit as badly.

“If the situation escalates, we may consider temporary measures such as restricting menus to manage kitchen operations efficiently. We have already held internal meetings and are preparing precautionary

steps,” he said.