India, March 19 -- Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has asked the Union government to intervene in what he described as a deepening shortage of commercial liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Bengaluru, warning that the disruption is already forcing businesses to shut and could ripple across key sectors dependent on the city's hospitality industry.

In a letter dated March 18 to Union minister for petroleum and natural gas Hardeep Singh Puri, the chief minister flagged the mismatch between supply and demand, particularly affecting restaurants, hotels and catering services. According to the letter, the city's daily requirement stands at about 50,000 commercial cylinders, while supply has fallen to roughly 1,000 cylinders per day.

The sho...