Kochi: Restaurant owners across Kerala have called for a shutdown on the 6th of this month to protest the steep hike in cooking gas prices, signalling a deepening crisis in the hospitality sector. The decision was taken at a meeting of the state committee of the Hotel and Restaurant Association, as anger mounts over what is being seen as an unsustainable cost burden.
The agitation comes in the wake of a sudden ₹993 increase in the price of 19-kg commercial LPG cylinders, implemented soon after the Assembly elections in five states. Industry representatives say that, in practice, hotels are now paying nearly ₹1,000 extra per cylinder at the time of purchase. The surge, they argue, has pushed the sector to the brink, threatening the survival of many establishments already struggling with rising operational costs.
Under the revised pricing, commercial cylinders now cost ₹3,071.50 in Delhi and ₹3,024 in Mumbai. This marks the third hike since tensions involving Iran escalated at the end of February, following earlier increases of ₹144 in March and ₹200 in April. The cumulative impact has placed hotels, restaurants and small businesses under severe financial pressure, with the burden now being passed on to consumers through rising food and delivery prices.
The scale of the crisis is evident in daily operations. An average hotel consumes up to four cylinders a day, meaning medium-sized establishments now face an additional monthly expense of around ₹1.5 lakh on gas alone. Traders say the situation has become nearly impossible to sustain, especially with cylinder prices jumping from about ₹1,800 in January to over ₹3,100 now.
The fallout is expected to be widespread, hitting small and medium businesses as well as customers who depend on affordable meals. Workers, hostel students and salaried employees who rely on hotel food are likely to bear the brunt as the price surge threatens to make everyday eating significantly more expensive.