LPG supply crunch hit restaurants threatening closures

Mumbai: For restaurants across the country, it is not business as usual–a severe crunch of LPG supplies on the back of the West Asia war is posing a threat of temporary closures with many firms having moved to induction cookers to stay afloat and some of them also restricting menu choices. Smaller establishments are already in dire straits. In Chennai, for instance, several small eateries have shut shops, Ravi Muthukrishnan, chairman, Vasanta Bhavan Hotels and president, Channel Hotels Association told TOI. From Chinese to biryani, a lot of items require slow cooking which means more usage of gas–agencies which supply LPG cylinders to restaurants have said that they do not have enough stock of commercial gas cylinders. “LPG cylinders have not been available since the past two days,” said Muthukrishnan.