India’s sugar, edible oil demand drops as commercial gas shortages hit restaurants

MUMBAI: Consumption of sugar and edible oils in India, the world’s largest market, is declining as a shortage of commercial gas cylinders has forced restaurants to scale back operations during the summer holiday season.

Lower consumption could curb India’s imports of edible oils, including palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, and soyoil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.

Roadside eateries and restaurants are facing gas cylinder shortages, which is reducing their edible oil consumption, said B.V. Mehta, executive director of the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), noting that India’s edible oil imports fell nearly 9% in March from the previous month to 1.2 million tons.

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These restaurants serve popular dishes such as samosas and chole bhature, which are typically deep-fried.

Manoj Yadav, who runs a roadside eatery serving chole bhature, said he was unable to operate last week after running out of cooking gas, resuming business this week after securing a single cylinder that is unlikely to last more than ten days.

“Gas cylinder deliveries haven’t happened even three weeks after booking. I’m not sure if I’ll get a new cylinder or when it will be delivered,” Yadav said.

India, the world’s second-largest liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) importer, is battling its worst gas crisis in decades, with the government cutting supplies for industries to shield households from shortages.

The country consumed 33.15 million metric tons of LPG, or cooking gas, last year, with imports accounting for about 60% of demand. About 90% of those imports came from the Middle East.

A senior official with the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd (NFCSF) told Reuters that the gas shortage has also hit sugar demand, which typically rises during the summer months.

“Summer holidays have begun and the wedding season is picking up,” the official said, adding that many roadside tea stalls and sweet shops have scaled back operations or shut temporarily.

The official requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.