The LPG shortage has hit Chennai hard — inflicting fear and uncertainty on restaurant owners, hostellers, and businesses. The city is not just reeling under the panic of this crisis, but also the potential effects of the price hike and black markets. While some eateries are forced to shut shop, some are finding ways to cope with the short supplies by cutting down on the menu, whereas others are exploring dishes that require less gas. Hostellers who rely heavily on hotels have also felt the pinch, and PG owners are scrambling to make alternative arrangements for the residents and find temporary solutions. While the issue persists, this is how restaurants, cloud kitchens, and hostellers are planning to adapt to the new situation the city is grappling with.
Pravina Sridhar, Chief Operating Officer at Paati Veedu
Since we depend entirely on LPG, we have made backup arrangements to keep the business running for about ten days.
Sowmya Raju, Founder of Megham Kitchen, a start up cloud kitchen
The situation is really concerning. Issues like these affect global economies and supply chains, leading to businesses everywhere to watch developments closely. At Megham Kitchen — which runs on a small-batch, pre-order model — I hope I can easily adapt our menu and rely on available materials. The idea is to ensure the kitchen can continue functioning smoothly even if there are temporary supply challenges. At the moment, I have ensured that our kitchen has a steady LPG supply through our regular distributor, and I am also maintaining a backup cylinder so operations aren’t interrupted. Since our cooking and prep is planned through pre-orders, I can manage cooking schedules efficiently and avoid sudden disruptions. Additionally, I am exploring options such as pre ordering when needed and gradually integrating alternative cooking setups like induction for smaller batches.
Hannah Christiana, Paying guest, Anna Nagar
I am worried that the ongoing LPG gas shortage will deeply affect my daily life. With the present war situation disrupting supply and transportation, even getting a gas cylinder has become uncertain. Cooking in our PG has almost come to a standstill, forcing many of us to depend on outside food. Personally, I rely heavily on Hotel Karpagam, a small hotel near my PG, for most of my meals. The thought that even such small hotels might struggle or shut down due to this crisis truly worries me. It is frightening to experience how the shortage of a basic necessity like LPG can suddenly disturb our everyday survival.
Ajayakumar, Owner, Kottayam Cafe, Mogappair West
We have been badly affected by the LPG cylinder shortage. We have had to cut down our menu. Earlier we served meals, Malabar porotta, chicken and beef biryani, and several other dishes, including Chinese items. Now, we are focusing only on dishes that can be prepared in bulk, and we have even stopped offering free hot water to customers to save gas. It is upsetting, but we have no other option. We cannot shut the restaurant because we have many staff members and regular customers, especially Malayalis in the city who depend on us. The situation may worsen in the coming days, and if we do not get cylinders today it will become very difficult. We need at least three to four cylinders a day, and we cannot store them for more than two or three days. We are not going to increase the prices. We are cutting down a few items to manage the situation.
Umesh Vaidyanathan, Proprietor of House of Idlies, T Nagar
We are trying to look at the LPG shortage slightly as an opportunity. This is the time where we can explore dishes that require very little gas or even no gas at all. So we are introducing more salads and sandwiches, and dishes from our own cuisine like pachapuli rasam and pachamor kuzhambu, which don’t require much cooking. For most restaurants, it’s almost impossible to have a gas reserve for more than two or three days because cylinders usually come in daily. With the shortage, we are managing by controlling items like dosa that require a lot of gas. Restaurants like ours are also trying alternatives such as induction cooking and wood-fire stoves for bulk preparations. Gas will still be required for at least 50 percent of cooking, but with these adjustments we believe we can manage for about a week. Beyond that, we may have to adapt ideas like soaked poha or even concepts like ‘no oil, no boil’ cooking. We are working with a limited menu but trying to keep it creative so customers don’t lose the experience. Many of our regulars depend on restaurant food for their daily meals. The F&B industry has faced many uncertainties since Covid, from packaging bans to GST revisions. This shortage came with little notice, but we are adapting and finding new ways to survive.
Mithraa Anand, Student in a hostel, Nungambakkam
I think we all kind of saw the LPG shortage coming. The ‘no tea or coffee’ rule in hostels is definitely going to affect me because my day starts with coffee. As for fewer tiffin items, the dishes weren’t that great anyway, but it’s still going to be quite hard to adjust. I think it’s practically possible to manage because there are other options like pongal, upma, idli or rice items. Being South Indians, we can technically eat rice three times a day, so it should work. But this situation has definitely made me consider eating outside. The problem is that even restaurants are slowly closing because of the shortage. My hostel mates and I are doubly stocking up on Maggi, instant oats and pasta — things we can make using an induction or a kettle, which we used to eat when we’re bored, shops are closed, or when we’re broke. If things get worse, as a student living on pocket money, my Plan B is to stock up on snacks. If it gets really bad, I’ll probably go to a relative’s house or head back home.