Mumbai restaurateurs fear shutdowns amid LPG shortage, says SP MLA Abu Azmi

Samajwadi Party Maharashtra state president and legislator Abu Asim Azmi has highlighted the growing panic among hotel owners in the city due to the acute shortage of commercial liquefied petroleum gas LPG cylindersSpeaking to news agency IANS Azmi stated that hoteliers contacted him in desperation fearing immediate closuresldquoYesterday hotel owners called me saying their hotel would have to shut today I tried to help and managed to send them an extra cylinder through a relative There is complete panicrdquo he saidMumbai Maharashtra Samajwadi Party state president and MLA Abu Azmi on the LPG cylinder shortage said ldquoYesterday hotel owners called me saying their hotel would have to shut today I tried to help and managed to send them an extra cylinder through a relative There is completehellip pictwittercom86DyPMLsYDmdash IANS ians_india March 12 2026He further mentioned that his own household has ordered two electric stoves as a precautionary measure amid the uncertaintyMumbai has been facing commercial LPG supply challenges with hoteliers and restaurateurs reporting difficulties in procuring cylinders leading to concerns over business continuity in the hospitality sectorThe Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has clarified that there is no official ban on commercial LPG supply though industry voices have noted reduced availability and disruptions potentially linked to global supply chain issuesNo shortage of petrol diesel kerosene ATF or fuel oil Hardeep Puri tells Lok SabhaMeanwhile on Thursday Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri informed the Lok Sabha that India is successfully navigating major disruptions in global energy supplies following the West Asia conflictldquoIndia has sufficient gas production and supply arrangements to sustain this position even in the event of a prolonged conflict Power generation for every household and for industry is fully protectedrdquo Puri said Opposition members sloganeered and protested against the ministerrsquos remarksThe Union Minister noted that the conflict has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping The route typically handles about 20 per cent of the worldrsquos crude oil natural gas and LPG suppliesAddressing the House Puri said Indiarsquos crude supply remains secure even though about 45 per cent of the countryrsquos imports earlier passed through the affected route news agency ANI reported He added that ldquoNonHormuz sourcing has risen to approximately 70 per cent of crude imports up from 55 per cent before the conflict beganrdquoThe minister attributed the stability to diversification of supply sources noting that India now imports crude from 40 countries compared to 27 in 200607 He assured the House that ldquoThere is no shortage of petrol diesel kerosene ATF or fuel oil The availability of petrol diesel aviation turbine fuel kerosene and fuel oil is fully assuredrdquo adding that refineries are operating at high capacity utilisation at times ldquoexceeding 100 per centrdquoOn natural gas supply the government has implemented a prioritised allocation system under the Natural Gas Control Order issued on March 9 With IANS and ANI inputs