How the Indian restaurant industry is gearing up for the LPG crisis, amid the West Asia conflict

“When we called our supplier today, we were told there is no supply of LPG cylinders. I know I can function today as I have some stock. We are trying to figure out what else we can do,” says Chef Tresa Francis who runs Coracle in Domlur, Bengaluru. She adds, “The supply is restricted and rationed, is what I hear. But I do not know how that works.”

She is not alone. Hoteliers, chefs and restauranteurs are in firefighting mode as they figure out how to make their existing fuel last for as long as possible and customers fed, till there is some clarity on how to move forward. A restaurant like Coracle gets cylinders every five days. “The last time we received the cylinders was on Saturday,” says Tresa.

The conflict in West Asia continues, and its effects can be felt in cities across India. On Monday (March 9, 2026) LPG cylinder supply was restricted in several cities. The Bangalore Hotels Association put out a notice saying that if the supply is not resumed, hotels may have to shut down.

For now, most restaurants say they are trying to stretch the cylinders they already have while waiting for clarity on supply. But if deliveries do not resume soon, many admit the choices will narrow quickly — fewer dishes, shorter hours, or simply shutting the kitchen doors until the gas returns. Which for some could mean closing by tomorrow, or this weekend.

Although prices have been moving upwards for the past two weeks, by an estimated 40%, according to Chennai-based Japtej Ahluwalia, co-founder, BORN (Beyond Ordinary Restaurants and Nosh) and a managing committee member, NRAI (National Restaurant Association of India), they were managing to source cylinders. The seven restaurants BORN runs across the city, including Sortd, Fufu and Double Roti, require around 20 to 25 cylinders a day. Sources from the F&B industry, who opt not to be named, say that cylinders were available for about double the market price till recently. Now, even though restaurants are trying to buy them at any price, all sources seem to have dried up.

Induction is not a viable alternative. Santhosh Zachariah, of Chennai’s speakeasy MadCo, which usually opens at noon, says they are now only opening for dinner to conserve their LPG cylinders and cutting dishes that require higher flames, and longer cook times, like their popular bone marrow off the menu. “Induction is not an alternative for a lot of the cooking we do,” he says, adding “also our electricity bills will go through the roof.”

The effect is being felt all through the country. Zorawar Kalra, founder, Massive Restaurants, which runs brands like Masala Library, Pa Pa Ya and Farzi Cafe explains that commercial LPG is the backbone of kitchen operations across India, and any disruption threatens the continuity of food service for millions. He adds, “The restaurant industry is a ₹6.6-lakh-crore ecosystem and a major employer, and it is critical that policy clarity ensures uninterrupted LPG supply to keep kitchens running. A single day’s lack of supply will cost the industry and the economy between 1,200-1,300 crores as 70-75% of the ecosystem relies on LPG.”

‘No stove is allowed to run idle anymore’

In Hyderabad, Syed Irfan, owner, Subhan Bakery says he is appointing a supervisor to monitor the use of LPG for their Indian kitchen. “For bakery products, we rely on electricity. For the rest, we are confident about the ease of managing and opting for induction cooktops. The cost of the sets will be more for sure.”

However Naga Bharan who spearheads five outlets of Panchakattu Dosa across Hyderabad is unenthusiastic about induction. “The change requires a complete overhaul in infrastructure, including our electrical work,” he says. Since private commercial LPG operators have stopped supply, he says they are relying on Government commercial LPG suppliers such as Indane and HP. We are working towards optimising our resources; for instance we are running one dosa stove instead of two. We are informing customers that orders might be slightly delayed. Everyone is co-operative and understands the crisis. No stove is allowed to run idle anymore. Earlier our dosa stoves used to be kept on in anticipation of orders.”

‘High gas consumption items like Asian woks are being limited’

Japtej says, “We are trying to keep up with this rapidly evolving situation at present. Vendors aren’t able to supply to us given a new notification that has classified us as a non-essential service. We are working on optimising menus across restaurants; high gas consumption items like Asian woks or even pizzas are being limited and our focus is on conserving our existing gas reserves as much as possible for weekend operations which contributes to nearly 40% of our revenue.”

Wherever possible, equipment swaps are also being explored. Japtej says they are replacing burger griddles that run on gas with electric equipment which they are temporarily renting. “Alternatives like this are however feasible only for select equipment,” he adds.

Changes on the menu

Businesses are also looking at temporarily tweaking their menu. Sampath T of Spicy Venue in Hyderabad, who is also a member of NRAI, says, “We can manage with the current stock of commercial LPG for a week, but everyone is working on strategies to cope with the situation. In my restaurants that mostly focus on Indian cooking, we are looking to push more dishes that do not require long usage of LPG. While biryani cannot be skipped, we are looking at stir-fried in place of deep-fried Indian side dishes for the time being. Switching to induction is not an immediate full-time solution since it would require changes in infrastructure and trial runs to get the required flavours for Indian dishes.”

Food being cooked on an induction cooktop (Representational image)
| Photo Credit:
V Raju

Newer restaurants such as Kadamba and Naad, which have a mix of Indian and global cuisine, are trying to maximise the use of electrical equipment and actively promote non-Indian dishes.

“We will now inform guests about what is available right when they get their menus,” says Vikas Passary, who owns a handful of restaurants including Little Italy, Orlo, Kadaman and Naad. “The tandoor specials will remain but the rest is about planning ahead and hoping there is no crisis.”

‘We would rather shut down instead of increasing prices’

While running costs are going up, right now, most restaurants are absorbing the difference in prices without passing them on to the customers. Vinay Gopal Manik Pradeep, manager, Mana Biryani Vindu located on the busy MVP Double Road in Visakhapatnam, says “We would rather shut down than increase prices. We are planning to make only biryanis for now and stop serving fried items and heavy starters.”

While the supply has not been affected in Delhi, Radhika Khandelwal, chef-founder behind restaurants such as Trouble Trouble and Kona Sandwich Shop in Delhi says they are preparing alternatives. “Even if we have four induction stoves, it is not equal to the 10-burner gas range we have. We also have grills and pizza ovens which require gas,” she says. The Government had also cracked down on coal- and firewood-based tandoors in Delhi-NCR to curb pollution.

This is affecting everyone from luxury hotels in the country’s swankiest cities to tea stalls. R Parthasarathy has been a restaurateur for more than 35 years running Hotel Sri Ranga in Salem for two decades. “We have had bad times collectively as the hotel industry before, but this shortage of commercial cylinders is new,” he says, adding “I am now managing lunch on wood fire, but for dinner and breakfast, I require the cylinder for dosas and parotta.”

Meanwhile Chef Chindi Varadarajulu of Pumpkin Tales and Zhoyu in Chennai is finding energy effective ways to cook. “Our breads are cooked in an electric oven, and we have bought some charcoal powered stoves for staff meals and to cook the large base sauces, then we can use induction stove to finish up.” She also sends me a picture of a sigri, which she is currently researching, adding “We are thinking of going back to the old style of cooking.”

Ghee masala roast at Hotel Annapoorna in Coimbatore.
| Photo Credit:
SIVA SARAVANAN S

In Coimbatore, iconic Annapoorna hotel rava onion dosas are already off the menu, along with parottas. And in the next three days, if things do not improve, India’s favourite comfort food, ghee masala dosas will follow. “If I remove dosa, sambar and coffee from the menu, it would cause more inconvenience to the public,” says Jegan S Damodarasamy, CEO, Annapoorna Hotels, adding however that dosas will not be available from 10.30am to 6pm, in an attempt to conserve fuel.

He adds, “When metro cities like Bengaluru have shut restaurants already, for tier II cities it is even more challenging… At this point, I am only praying. This is the first time in the 58 years we have been open that we have not served dosas in the afternoon.“

With inputs from Prabalika M Borah, Poorvaja S, K Jeshi, Barry Rodgers, and Nivedita Ganguly D