Bengaluru: The ongoing LPG crisis rocked the Legislative Council Monday, with MLCs across party lines pressing the state govt to prioritise LPG supply to hotels and restaurants, especially in cities such as Bengaluru, where a large number of working people depend on eateries.However, minister for food and civil supplies KH Muniyappa, while acknowledging the severity of the situation, appealed to the hospitality sector to “adjust” for another week, expressing confidence that conditions would improve in the coming days.After holding talks with major oil companies, Muniyappa informed the Council that the hospitality sector—including hotels, restaurants, dhabas, canteens and paying guest facilities—would be supplied with 10,000 commercial LPG cylinders daily. “Prior to the LPG crisis triggered by the Middle East conflict, oil companies were supplying 45,000 commercial LPG cylinders to hotels. Now, the Centre has permitted supply of 16,105 commercial LPG cylinders, out of which 10,000 will be allocated to hotels and restaurants on priority,” Muniyappa said.However, objecting to the limited supply, Congress MLC Iwan D’Souza said: “This allocation will cater to only 20% of the hotels. Should the remaining 80% shut down operations? If not LPG, the state govt must at least ensure supply of firewood to these hotels!” Responding to this, forest minister Eshwar Khandre said: “We have banned the axing of trees for firewood, and any such attempt will be dealt with seriously.”‘Swalpa Adjust Madkoli’Allaying concerns, Muniyappa said: “We are gradually coming out of a crisis scenario. Ten per cent of supply is better than having nothing. At least with this, every hotel will get some respite. If hotels were earlier using five LPG cylinders, now they may get one. As this is a global crisis, hoteliers and restaurants must adjust for a few days. They can balance demand by using alternatives such as electric or firewood stoves. The situation will improve in the coming days.”Apart from the 10,000 cylinders allocated to the hospitality sector, the govt has decided to distribute the remaining 5,000-plus cylinders among essential sectors such as pharmaceuticals, fisheries, sericulture, and others on priority.“India depends on Middle Eastern nations for 75% of its LPG supply. If we diversified into solar and biogas earlier, the current crisis could have been mitigated. The UPA govt promoted these alternatives, and the present NDA govt is also working in that direction to achieve self-reliance in cooking gas. Until then, global issues will continue to affect us, and we must adjust. The central govt is cooperating with us, especially after the chief minister’s request for increased LPG allocation to Karnataka,” he added.Register with GAIL for transparencyThe LPG crisis has also prompted the state govt to tighten regulation over the sale and distribution of commercial LPG cylinders across Karnataka, a sector that has so far lacked comprehensive oversight.To ensure transparency and curb black-market activities, all commercial LPG users have been directed to mandatorily register with Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) with immediate effect.“All commercial LPG users must register with GAIL immediately to eliminate black-market control and ensure transparency in distribution. This process must be completed in a week. It will help us assess demand and supply accurately and will also be useful in the future transition to a Piped Natural Gas (PNG) network. Our goal is to prevent misuse and ensure gas reaches genuine users through a record-based distribution system,” the minister said.
