Mumbai The flames of war going on in the Middle East have now started affecting India’s economy and common life. Due to disruption in the international supply chain, there is a severe shortage of commercial LPG gas in major metros of the country. The hotel and restaurant industry has been hit the biggest blow.
The situation is becoming serious in the country’s financial capital Mumbai. According to Aahar, the leading organization of hotels, about 20 percent of the hotels in Mumbai have already been closed due to shortage of gas. The association has warned that if the supply does not normalize in the next 48 hours, more than 50 percent of the hotels in the city may be locked. Although the association has not yet issued any official order to close hotels en masse, hotel owners at the individual level are forced to close operations due to lack of fuel.
At the same time, there is an outcry in Chennai, the major city of South India. Expressing deep concern over the acute shortage of commercial LPG cylinders in the city, the Chennai Hotel Association has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention. The association says that the notice of temporary stoppage of commercial gas supply by the Central Government has posed an existential crisis to the food industry. Chennai Hotel Association President M. Ravi said that most hotels now have only two days of stock left. In his letter to the Prime Minister, he clarified that the hotel industry is not just a business but it is the main source of food for hospitals, IT parks, college hostels and train passengers. If the supply is not restored, the general public will have to face severe food shortage. This energy crisis arising due to geopolitical tensions has worried the service sector of the entire country.
