West Asia crisis triggers LPG shortage in India; Hotels turn to firewood, eateries cut menu

A restaurant in India has reported a 70% decline in business after an ongoing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) shortage forced it to switch to cooking with firewood and reduce its menu, an employee of the establishment said on Thursday (March 12).The restaurant, which employs around 45 people, is struggling to source LPG cylinders even on the black market, where the price has surged to over 5,000 rupees for a cylinder. An employee, Sunil, expressed concern over rising firewood costs, which the restaurant has turned to as an alternative cooking fuel. "We are getting the wood from a nearby shop. Even wood has become very expensive recently. We got 3 tonnes of wood for 20,000 rupees," he said.