IIMs rush to secure LPG supplies as gas shortage begins to show up at campuses

The ripple effects of a disruption in cooking gas supply due to the West Asia conflict have begun to show up in India’s top management institutes, which house thousands of students and staff.While there is no uniform crisis across campuses, multiple Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) told Mint they have taken precautionary steps over the past week as delays in LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinder refills started affecting kitchen operations. Measures have ranged from trimming menus to securing supplies through local administrative support.“LPG crisis has been severe,” said Devashish Das Gupta, chairperson, student affairs, IIM Lucknow.

“We have cut short the menu in the past week. After a series of requests, we received refills from two different LPG firms.

Things are under control now.”Other campuses have reduced their food spread. IIM Tiruchirappalli said in an email response that it is “currently managing the situation by rationalising the menu”, noting that campus demand has also eased with the departure of the graduating batch.According to some college officials, the development has also drawn the attention of the Centre, with the ministry of education reaching out to IIMs to assess their LPG stock positions.“Yes, the ministry has enquired from each IIM,” IIM Udaipur said in an email response.

The college further noted that it has made minor modifications on the menu but clarified that “there is no such crisis; the situation is under control”.Debashis Chatterjee, director of IIM Kozhikode, said the college authorities have negotiated with the local administration to tide over the LPG problem. “These are challenging times and we have two campuses (in Kochi and Kozhikode) to run,” he said.Meanwhile, IIM Raipur