Some Bengaluru restaurants 'temporarily' hike food prices amid LPG shortage, cost surge

• Bengaluru restaurants hike food prices due to LPG shortage
• Commercial LPG prices surge due to Middle East conflict
• Some restaurants removed dosa, puri, chapati from menus

Did our AI summary help?

Owing to a sharp increase in commercial LPG prices and an ongoing shortage of cylinders, several restaurants in Bengaluru have 'temporarily' hiked the prices of food items.

A poster put up by Sri Krishna Vaibhav in CV Raman Nagar reads: “Attention Customers: Due to the increase in the prices of gas and other items, the prices of thindi items have been temporarily increased by Rs 5 to Rs 10. Customers are requested to please cooperate.”

A staff member at the restaurant told Moneycontrol, “We had to increase the prices since everything is getting costlier. There is also a shortage of gas due to the Iran war, so we have no option but to temporarily increase prices for survival.”

Subramanya Holla, president of Bangalore Hotels Association (BHA), told Moneycontrol that situation has worsened today compared to Tuesday. “Some restaurants have increased prices as they are forced to buy cylinders from the black market. But we don’t know if the price hike will be temporary, as we are not sure how long the situation will continue,” he said.

The prices of both domestic and commercial LPG cylinders were hiked by Rs 115 from March 7 amid rising energy costs linked to the West Asia conflict.

Sources said even private LPG suppliers have raised prices. One distributor told Moneycontrol that a 12 kg private LPG cylinder now costs Rs 3,600 compared to Rs 2,600 last month. “New customers also need to pay Rs 1,500 as an advance. Demand has increased and we also don’t know how long we can continue supplying,” the distributor said.

Separately, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) had instructed LPG distributors to supply commercial cylinders only to hospitals and educational institutions, temporarily halting sales to hotels, restaurants and other commercial establishments.

The move comes amid the ongoing US-Israel conflict with Iran, which has disrupted oil and natural gas exports from the Middle East and put pressure on fuel supplies. The disruption has led to a severe shortage of commercial cylinders in Bengaluru, forcing Bengaluru Hotels Association to warn of a shutdown of hotel operations from March 10.

Many restaurants have also tweaked their menus, removing items such as dosa, puri and chapati, and replacing them with items like sandwiches to tide over the crisis.