Despite the financial strain, restaurant owners said cutting staff or compromising on food quality was not an option.Written by Deepak Kumar Chaurasia A sharp rise in commercial LPG prices has put the Tricity restaurant industry under strain, with several owners saying mounting fuel bills are squeezing already thin margins and may soon force a hike in food prices.Restaurant owners across the city said the increase in commercial cooking gas costs has significantly raised monthly operating expenses, leaving them to choose between absorbing losses or passing on some of the burden to customers.Amritanshu, owner of Hops ‘n’ Grains in Sector 9, Panchkula, said the rising cost of fuel has made running a restaurant increasingly challenging. His establishment uses around 30 LPG cylinders a month, pushing up overhead costs substantially.“It’s a balancing act,” he said. “You have to consider the customer’s budget because their other costs are rising, too. Sometimes, as a business owner, you just have to take the hit.”Another Panchkula restaurateur, who requested anonymity, said his kitchens consume 60 to 70 cylinders every month and the latest price increase alone has added around Rs 35,000 to Rs 40,000 to his monthly expenditure.He said owners are, for now, adopting a wait-and-watch approach in the hope that global conditions stabilise and fuel prices ease.Story continues below this ad“Raising prices would be unfair to customers who have been with us for years,” he said, adding that restaurants were trying to hold the line as long as possible.At Back to Source, owner Puja Aggarwal said the impact has been especially severe because of the scale of operations, with LPG accounting for nearly 7 per cent of total operating costs.With customer footfall already under pressure, Aggarwal said a menu price revision may become unavoidable if fuel costs remain elevated.Despite the financial strain, restaurant owners said cutting staff or compromising on food quality was not an option.Story continues below this ad“Our staff is family. They stayed with us through the tough times; we aren’t considering staff cutting,” said the anonymous restaurateur.Owners are instead looking at ways to improve fuel efficiency. Some kitchens have begun shifting more preparation work to charcoal-based tandoors to reduce gas consumption.Amritanshu said food quality would remain non-negotiable despite rising costs.“That is not the way to do business,” he said.Story continues below this adMany restaurateurs are also looking to Piped Natural Gas as a long-term solution to bring down operating costs.“The pipelines are already laid. We’re just waiting on the actual connections. That would be a major relief,” a restaurateur from Panchkula said.For now, Tricity’s restaurant industry is trying to keep costs under control while hoping commercial LPG prices do not rise further.The author is an intern with The Indian ExpressStay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:LPG