Amritsar: The community kitchen at the revered Golden Temple continues to receive a steady supply of cooking fuel, ensuring that thousands of devotees are served meals daily without disruption.
Officials managing the kitchen said the Sri Guru Ramdas Ji Langar Hall currently has sufficient stock of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) refills while also relying heavily on piped Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for preparing food.
According to the shrine’s general manager Bhagwant Singh Dhangera, the facility presently holds around 115 LPG cylinders in its inventory, although the kitchen has permission for up to 700 LPG connections. Another batch of approximately 100 cylinders is expected to arrive soon.
Representatives from three major oil marketing companies — Hindustan Petroleum, Indane and Bharat Gas — are scheduled to meet the shrine authorities to review supply arrangements. Officials said there have been no indications of shortages so far.
CNG remains main fuel source
The langar kitchen primarily operates on CNG supplied through a dedicated underground pipeline. This pipeline, installed by Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation, became operational in 2019 after a 4.5-kilometre connection was laid directly to the kitchen.
The facility consumes roughly 1,300 units of CNG every day, along with around 30 LPG cylinders to meet its cooking needs.
Feeding thousands daily
The langar serves between 80,000 and 90,000 visitors every day, while the number often crosses one lakh during weekends and religious occasions. The kitchen is globally recognised for offering free meals to all visitors, irrespective of religion, caste or social background.
Before the introduction of the CNG pipeline, the langar relied heavily on traditional fuel sources. The kitchen previously used around 100 LPG cylinders and 50–60 quintals of firewood daily to cook meals for nearly 60,000 people. Consumption would increase significantly during festivals and busy days.
The transition to piped gas has reduced the dependence on firewood and helped lower emissions while maintaining the kitchen’s ability to feed large numbers of devotees.
