College hostels revise menus, explore alternatives as LPG crunch continues

Campus kitchens are shifting to electric systems and wood-fired backups to keep student meal services running

National commercial LPG disruptions due to the Iran war are hitting campus kitchens, forcing colleges and hostels to revise menus and trigger contingency plans to keep student meals running.

 

Global supply chain shocks and tensions in the Strait of Hormuz have triggered an LPG crunch, threatening the large-scale mess kitchens that residential campuses depend on to feed thousands of students daily.

 

“We experienced a significant disruption in LPG supply, which initially created challenges in maintaining regular kitchen operations,” said Perumal Alagarsamy, dean of students’ affairs, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati. “To ensure that every student continued to receive meals without interruption, we prioritised the core menu items and temporarily scaled back on live counters and speciality varieties.” 

With large residential populations to feed, university kitchens depend on a constant flow of commercial LPG, often burning through multiple cylinders daily to sustain bulk cooking operations. 

Alagarsamy said IIT Guwahati has not changed the mess fees. “We are closely monitoring the situation, as any further escalation in LPG costs could necessitate a reassessment of our budgetary allocations and mess fees in the upcoming months,” he added.

 

The university has backup measures, such as using traditional wood-fired kitchens, in case the circumstances worsen.

 

Sourav Majumder, managing partner at Shree Visnave, which runs the canteen at BMS College of Commerce and Management in Bengaluru, said his operations face a severe LPG shortage. “Like many restaurants, canteens, and cafés, we have not received a single LPG cylinder for over a week,” he said.

 

BMS College has shifted to electric cooking systems to offset the disruption, moving away from its previous daily reliance on two to three commercial cylinders.

 

“We have rapidly shifted to electric cooking using induction stoves and heaters to keep operations running,” Majumder said. Transitioning to alternative equipment has allowed the canteen to maintain roughly 80 per cent of its 200-item menu.

 

“We run a student canteen that provides meals at subsidised rates. When fuel alone starts consuming the majority of revenue, it becomes nearly impossible to sustain. The system is failing small food operators, and yet we are expected to continue serving without passing the burden onto students. This is simply not viable in the long run,” Majumder added.

 

Hostels are a key part of India’s higher-education ecosystem, with several students moving away from home to study. Data from the All India Survey on Higher Education 2021–22 shows over 40,000 hostels across universities and colleges, housing more than 3.5 million students nationwide.

 

Other institutions have also had to cut down menus. Kaikobad Bokdawalla, director of food & beverage quality control at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, said the university has reduced its menu to three to four items to “better manage resources”.

 

“We continue to use a combination of induction and LPG-based cooking to maintain efficiency,” Bokdawalla said.

 

Some institutions have not yet faced disruptions but are taking precautionary measures to optimise fuel usage.

 

A spokesperson for Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, said LPG supplies are stable, but the institute has revised its menu as a precaution.

 

“The approach has been preventive rather than corrective. Regular consumption audits, vendor performance reviews, and storage planning are built into operations. Kitchen teams track usage patterns and align procurement cycles accordingly. As a precautionary measure, the menu has been revised to ensure optimal resource utilisation. This ensures readiness without requiring significant reactive steps such as fuel substitution, while maintaining efficiency and service consistency,” the spokesperson said.

 

An acute commercial LPG shortage has gripped Odisha’s university and private hostels, forcing a retreat to firewood and coal to keep student kitchens running.

 

At Utkal University in Bhubaneswar, one of the state’s oldest and largest institutions, dwindling LPG supplies have already forced a shift to firewood and coal-fired stoves to keep hostel messes functional.

 

Sibasankar Mohanty, the university’s hostel warden, said the the problem is significant. “There are more than 1,500 students in seven hostels. We need at least 22 commercial cylinders a month for each of the bigger hostels and around 14 for smaller ones. Now, some smaller hostels have been clubbed together and most dishes are being cooked on firewood chulhas,” he said.

 

The crisis has escalated at Berhampur University, where authorities have moved mess operations outdoors. Kitchens now function in the open under temporary sheds, allowing firewood cooking to proceed without disrupting student meals.

 

University officials said the move was necessary to ensure uninterrupted meals for 1,486 hostel residents. “We have allowed the mess managers to prepare food using firewood outside hostel buildings so that students are not affected,” said Geetanjali Dash, vice-chancellor of Berhampur University.

 

Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, a deemed university, has urged the state government and oil marketing companies to ensure a steady supply of commercial cylinders.