Goa, June 4 -- Goa's restaurant industry is facing what operators de scribe as an unprecedented cost crisis, with commer cial LPG prices, electricity bills and fuel costs rising sharply even as customer footfalls decline, pushing many establishments to the brink. Restaurant owners across the State have ac cused the government of relentlessly increasing the cost of essential utilities while offering little relief to a hospitality sector al ready struggling with high rents, labour shortages and shrinking profit margins.

The latest flashpoint is the steep rise in commer cial LPG prices. Restau rateurs say the cost of a 19-kg commercial cylinder has surged from Rs 1,849 barely two months ago to Rs 3,194, dramatically in flating kitchen expen...