Hoteliers, bakers, tea shops and wedding halls seek reduction in commercial LPG prices

With crude oil prices returning to pre-war levels, various associations affected by the extraordinary increase in commercial liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices called for a withdrawal of rates. While the international benchmark Brent crude oil fell to approximately 72-73 USD per barrel, US crude oil fell below 70 USD per barrel. A non-domestic cylinder, which was priced at 1,899.50 Indian rupees per 19 kg cylinder on February 1, is priced at 3,283 Indian rupees from June 1.

M. Venkadasubbu, President of Tamil Nadu Hoteliers Association, said that the Central government should reduce the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG. “Hotels are having a hard time managing LPG at these rates. This eats up our margins. Not everyone can switch to other fuels. We can only increase food prices by 10% as a higher increase will cause us to lose customers. Firewood drives away employees who work long hours because the working environment is not suitable for them. About 10% of hotels and small restaurants have closed. But those who continue to work have a heavy credit burden,” he said.

Tamil Nadu Bakers Federation PP Subramaniam said their industry is a diverse one where electric, gas, diesel and a small number of firewood ovens operate to bake bread, cakes and pastries. “We are already suffering from raw material prices. In such a situation, reducing LPG and diesel prices will help our industry survive,” he said.

T. Anandan, president of Chennai Metropolitan Tea Shop Owners Association, said that they submitted a petition to IndianOil but have not yet received a response from the authorities. “Currently, by increasing the prices of tea and coffee, tea shops can barely operate their sales points. Since ordinary people consume tea and coffee, we cannot increase it too much. We told our members to produce quality products,” he said.

A. John Amalraj, State President of Tamil Nadu Marriage Hall Owners Association, said there were cases where its members had to pay even ₹10,000 per cylinder as muhurthams could not be postponed. Although several caterers asked us to allow the use of home cylinders, we did not allow them as this would constitute an illegal distraction. The past few months have been very difficult. “Even a reduction of ₹1,000 per cylinder would be a huge relief for us,” he said.