印度餐饮业LPG供应危机：中东冲突引发能源配给新规

Advertisement Asia ‘We don't know what to do’: Eateries in India face cooking gas crunch sparked by Middle East war Disruptions to energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have prompted India to prioritise household and transport gas supplies, leaving restaurants and other businesses scrambling for fuel. People surround a vehicle loaded with LPG cylinders outside a gas agency amid supply disruptions following the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Ahmedabad, India, March 12, 2026. (Photo: Reuters/Amit Dave) New: You can now listen to articles. This audio is generated by an AI tool. Collin Furtado Collin Furtado 13 Mar 2026 06:00AM Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST SINGAPORE: Half of the six eateries run by Delhi restaurateur Zachariah Jacob are close to running on fumes.“Right now, we are running on existing LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinders. We have enough stock for about a week,” Jacob, 38, who operates the outlets under the Mahabelly brand, told CNA. “After that, we will run out of gas, and we don’t know what to do.” Delhi restaurateur Zachariah Jacob, who operates the outlets under the Mahabelly brand. (Photo: Zachariah Jacob) The difference lies in how his kitchens are fuelled. Three of Jacob’s outlets in malls are cushioned by piped natural gas (PNG) connections, which remain unaffected.But his standalone kitchens rely on commercial LPG cylinders, and supplies have abruptly dried up as disruptions to shipments through the Strait of Hormuz - a key artery for India’s energy imports - ripple through the country’s fuel supply chains amid the war in the Middle East.The government has tightened distribution to prioritise households and other critical sectors, leaving many businesses scrambling to secure supplies and fuelling the black market.Experts say the turmoil is exposing immediate economic risks in India. It is also raising deeper questions about the country’s energy resilience - how to manage short-term shortages without crippling livelihoods, and how to reduce long-term dependence on vulnerable supply routes.BRACING FOR DISRUPTIONThe Strait of Hormuz is a critical artery for India’s energy supplies. Tensions following the United States and Israel’s strikes on Iran on Feb 28 have disrupted the route and triggered volatility in global oil prices.In 2025, nearly half of India’s crude oil and LNG imports transited through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Ajay Srivastava, founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI).However, the Indian government said on Wednesday (Mar 11) that diversification efforts have reduced dependence, with about 70 per cent of crude oil imports now sourced from outside the strait.LPG remains more exposed. India imports around 60 per cent of its LPG consumption, and roughly 90 per cent of those imports pass through the Strait of Hormuz, government data shows. Subscribe to CNA’s Morning Brief An automated curation of our top stories to start your day. This service is not intended for persons residing in the E.U. By clicking subscribe, I agree to receive news updates and promotional material from Mediacorp and Mediacorp’s partners. Loading Related: Indian businesses brace for fallout as Middle East conflict escalates Indian rice exports slow as Middle East war pushes up freight and insurance costs India’s restaurants face closures as Iran war disrupts cooking gas supply Against this backdrop, India has moved to manage its domestic supply.In an order issued on Tuesday (Mar 10), the Ministry of Petroleum said LPG supplies would be prioritised for households, the transport sector and LPG cylinder production.“We are committed to ensuring uninterrupted supply of affordable energy to our domestic consumers,” Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in a social media post, adding there was “no reason to panic”.Other sectors, including fertiliser plants and the tea industry, will receive only 70 to 80 per cent of their requirements, “subject to operational availability”, the ministry said. Supplies to petrochemical facilities and power plants would be fully or partially curtailed to bridge the gap.The new rules would ensure equitable distribution and continued availability for “priority sectors” such as healthcare and education, it added.But restaurants and hotels, which are not on the priority list, have warned that the commercial fallout could be severe.Zorawar Kalra, vice president of the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), said the industry is part of a 6.6 trillion rupee (US$71.5 billion) ecosystem, generating about 18 billion rupees in economic activity each day.Commercial establishments account for about 13 per cent of India’s LPG consumption, he highlighted.“Even if 25 per cent of outlets linked to PNG remain operational, a widespread shutdown of LPG-dependent restaurants could result in daily losses of over 12 billion rupees,” Kalra told CNA.The association has written to the government urging it to designate restaurants – both dine-in and delivery – as an essential service, which would grant them priority access to commercial LPG cylinders.“If they shut down for even a single day, that’s a loss to the economy,” Kalra said. “We are the second-largest employer after agriculture – 8 million directly employed, and another 8 million in ancillary industries.”The NRAI warned on Tuesday that 50 to 60 per cent of restaurants in India could shut within the next two to three days if commercial LPG supplies are not restored, in remarks carried by local media. Workers cook food using firewood instead of cooking gas outside a restaurant in Bengaluru, India, March 12, 2026. (Photo: Reuters/Priyanshu Singh) Restaurants are already planning contingencies, including trimming menus and seeking alternative cooking methods.Some eateries in parts of India are already switching to traditional coal-fired ovens, according to local reports.“If we don’t have gas, maybe instead of doing 50 items, we do five,” said Jacob, the Delhi restaurant owner, adding that his team is considering shifting some cooking to induction or electric equipment as a stopgap measure.However, coal-fired cooking is restricted in Delhi due to air pollution regulations, Jacob said. “If you’re looking at coal, that’s also not something you can really depend on.”In some areas, black-market cylinders are being sold at inflated prices. Many restaurateurs said they are reluctant to buy at “insane prices” and pass the temporary spike on to customers, according to local reports.Beyond hospitality and the food and beverage industry, small manufacturing units that rely on LPG for heating and processing - from food processing and textiles to metals, ceramics and even pharmaceuticals - could see operations slow or halt, said Karthik Nachiappan, a research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS).“Big businesses have other kinds of fuels (they can) rely on, and they have LPG that they can store. Most small businesses don’t have that, so they need to replenish their stock every couple of days,” he told CNA, adding that this makes them especially vulnerable.EMERGENCY MEASURES, STRUCTURAL FIXESIndia has moved to shore up supplies.On Wednesday, the government said it had increased domestic LPG production by about 25 per cent and was exploring alternative supply routes to the Strait of Hormuz.But experts cautioned that such measures may not offer immediate relief, as it will still take time to plug the current supply constraints.In the near term, the government may need to increase emergency imports from countries like Canada and the US, as well as release buffer sto