New Delhi: While priority supply to educational institutions has kept hostel messes running, campus canteens across major universities in the city are being forced to trim menus as the commercial LPG crunch bites.
Across campuses in Delhi, familiar student favourites have quietly disappeared from menus as vendors cut down on items that require more gas to cook.
Operators say they are dropping gas-heavy staples such as rotis, dosas and fried snacks, while in some cases slightly raising prices to manage tighter supply. At Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), the price of tea at Godavari Dhaba has gone up from Rs 10 to Rs 15 a cup. “It’s still affordable, but it shows vendors are feeling the pressure,” said Ram, a PhD student at JNU. Babu Dhaba has temporarily stopped serving rotis, while SIS Canteen has taken samosas off the menu. A canteen at school of computer sciences has moved to induction cooking.
Similar adjustments are visible in Delhi University. At a canteen in Delhi School of Economics, operators said dosa has been dropped for now due to the higher gas consumption involved in preparing it.
Vendors said they are focusing on simpler items and beverages to stretch available LPG supplies.
At JNU’s Babu Dhaba, the owner said preparing rotis has become difficult with the limited stock of gas, adding, “Roti requires the stove to run continuously for a long time. With the supply situation uncertain, we have stopped it for now and are focusing on rice meals and tea.”
At SIS-II Canteen on the same campus, samosas — one of the most popular evening snacks among students — have been temporarily removed from the menu. A message circulated in WhatsApp groups informed students that samosas would not be available until gas supplies stabilise.
At Delhi School of Economics, the canteen committee confirmed that dosa and samosa have been kept off the menu for similar reasons. “Preparing dosa requires the griddle to stay heated for a long time, which consumes a lot of gas. Given the current supply situation, the vendor has paused it to ensure other basic items remain available,” said a member of the DSE canteen committee.
The adjustments come amid the broader LPG supply disruption in the city that has affected eateries and households alike.
Under the Natural Gas (Supply Regulation) Order issued earlier this month, govt has prioritised certain sectors for gas supply, including domestic PNG, CNG for public transport and cooking gas for educational institutions. As a result, hostel mess kitchens in universities continue to function normally, ensuring that regular meals for resident students are not disrupted even as campus canteens scale back their offerings.
