Food & Beverage | That empty feeling
The unprecedented crisis in commercial LPG supply has hit eateries hard. The worst affected are humble hawkers and dhabas
KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL: A dull day at a prominent NCR restaurant. (Photo: Atul Kumar Yadav)
ISSUE DATE: Apr 6, 2026 | UPDATED: Mar 27, 2026 20:19 IST
At Shah Ghouse, a famous Hyderabad restaurant, the biryani stopped being cooked over gas. It went back to the firewood. Thousands more are doing the same across India. Blame it on the Iran conflict, which unleashed India’s worst commercial LPG crisis in memory. Around 90 per cent of over half a million restaurants use LPG as cooking fuel, nearly 60 per cent of which is imported from West Asia. The sudden supply crunch is a livelihood crisis for 8.5 million restaurant workers. Prices of 19-kg commercial cylinders in Delhi went up from Rs 1,580.50 in December to Rs 1,884.50 on March 22.