New Delhi, March 12 -- The government seeks to increase the use of alternative fuels such as kerosene and coal amid a supply crunch caused by the West Asia conflict, which has forced hotels and restaurants across several cities to halt operations and sparked panic-buying among household consumers.

The ministry of environment, forest and climate change has advised State Pollution Control Boards to permit the use of biomass, kerosene, RDF pellets and coal as alternate fuels for the hospitality sector for a month.

The government has also increased the allocation of kerosene to states from 100,000 kiloliters every quarter. "Another 48,000 kiloliters of kerosene will be released to state governments, and here, the role of state governments i...