BENGALURU: Restaurants across the state, especially Bengaluru, can now breathe easy as central authorities have fully removed sectoral restrictions on commercial LPG supplies, restoring them to pre-West Asia crisis levels. This is expected to bring back fuller menus, stable prices and smoother dining experiences for customers who faced frequent disappointments in recent months.
State-Level Coordinator Sidharth said, “We have received instructions from the Centre, and these restrictions imposed due to the geopolitical situation have been removed.” He said in May, a large part of the restrictions (around 70%) were eased. “Should there be any problem, users are free to call our helplines or contact us on the app,” he said.
During the West Asia crisis, many restaurants in Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka were forced to scale down operations, shorten menus, increase prices and even limit timings because of severe shortages of commercial LPG cylinders. Customers often encountered “not available” notices for popular dishes.
Subramanya Holla, president, Bengaluru Hotels Association, welcomed the move, highlighting a key concern for customers. “Recently, they increased the price by about Rs 900. We would be greatly relieved if they can roll back this price hike, too. We welcome this removal of restrictions, which made some of us pay more to get the LPG.” With Non-Domestic Packed LPG now fully restored and bulk LPG supplies also relaxed significantly, restaurants are expected to resume near-normal kitchen operations.
The government had earlier diverted C3-C4 hydrocarbon consignments exclusively for LPG production under the Essential Commodities Act. With improved local production and better import availability, this diversion is now being reduced, while ensuring indigenous LPG production stays above 40 TMT per day. Sources said some restrictions on bulk tankers are likely to continue, but the overall improvement is a major relief for the sector.
