No dosa or samosa: Gulf war LPG crunch shrinks India Inc's canteen menus, firms turn to electric

Kolkata|Mumbai: Commercial LPG rationing due to the Gulf war disrupting supplies is starting to impede India Inc's factory operations, trickling down even to canteen menus. Manufacturers say dwindling gas supplies are impacting a range of activities, from brazing work to paint shop operations.

Meanwhile, dosa, samosa and non-vegetarian food are no longer at canteens, as items that need a lot of gas to cook disappear from the list of available options. With some factories having LPG stocks only till the weekend - a hand-to-mouth existence, some executives called it - companies are installing electric rice cookers, induction cooktops and electric roti makers. Firewood chulhas are also making a comeback, alongside stripped-down meals that require minimal cooking, such as packaged food and sandwiches to keep workers fed, executives said. In some plants, even the supply of tea is being curtailed.

"Every day has become a new challenge now," said Satish NS, president of Haier India, a maker of refrigerators and televisions. "Component suppliers are facing challenges with low LPG supplies, which will impact final production. Brazing operations in factories are getting affected. And even running factory canteens has become difficult, which is why we are now electrifying all equipment."

Some Production Work Affected

Parle Products, India’s largest packaged food company, has trimmed the canteen menu at its 10 company-owned and 125 third-party factories from multiple dishes to just a few. Chapati, dosa and fried items are being replaced with easier-to-prepare options such as sandwiches. Parle has nearly 4,500 people across these plants.

“Workers understand the problem at hand,” said Mayank Shah, vice president at Parle Products. “Even production is being impacted in plants that run on fuels such as LPG, propane, and butane, with some shifts or lines not operating. We are trying to balance overall production with the plants that are least impacted.”

At Mahindra & Mahindra, canteens have dropped live counters and fried items to conserve energy. Tata Motors also cautioned supplier-event attendees at its Pune plant that the menu would be limited.

Most large manufacturing companies employ 3,000–5,000 factory workers, including indirect employees. Canteens are typically operated by external vendors.

The government has prioritised LPG for households in an effort to tackle the energy crunch as supplies from the Gulf have stopped due to the Iran war. On Thursday, the Centre said it has imposed a 20% limit on average monthly commercial LPG supply by oil marketing companies, which will work in coordination with state governments. Refineries have also been directed to maximise LPG production, with some boosting output by diverting propane and butane streams for this purpose. Manufacturing companies will get up to 80% of their previous six-month average supply.

Kamal Nandi, head of the appliances business at Godrej Enterprises, said limited LPG supplies have severely impacted brazing operations in sheet metal work. “It has become a hand-to-mouth situation,” he said. “We are trying alternatives to LPG as we have supplies only until Saturday. This is when demand for cooling appliances such as air-conditioners and refrigerators is peaking.”

To continue running its worker canteens, the company has brought back firewood stoves.

GK Sharma, India region chairperson at French auto parts maker OP Mobility, said while the company has been working on alternative energy sources such as electricity and solar power, it is still facing LPG shortages affecting paint shop operations. “We are navigating a tough phase,” he said.

However, companies that had already electrified their factory kitchens have been less affected.

At Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, which manufactures trucks and buses under the Bharat Benz brand, canteen services have remained unaffected as the entire kitchen is electric powered after the factory switched to 100% solar power.