Restaurants across the city are on the fence whether to rejoice at the subsidy being offered by the Delhi government to replace coal tandoors with electricity or gas-based equipment or not. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government announced a subsidy of Rs 5,000 on Friday, to the eateries across the national Capital as part of its ‘green budget’.

DNA spoke to restaurateurs in the city to find out whether they welcomed the government move and if it would prove beneficial to them in any way. Manuj M Gupta, owner of The Darzi Bar and Kitchen feels that the amount offered for the replacement is less. “It costs around Rs 10,000 to convert a coal tandoor into a gas one. A gas-based tandoor, on an average, consumes 1.5 cylinder per day, which makes its running cost very high. Though the intentions are noble, we are not sure about the final impact of the same. Restaurants use charcoal instead of coal, which has very less amount of sulphur. Also, this results in the manifold increase in the consumption of gas which already is in shortage in the city.”

Varun Puri, who runs Too Indian in Rajouri Garden, agrees with Gupta’s views. “No one uses coal these days as everyone knows it is a health hazard. We are willing to convert it but the government should increase the amount of subsidy. If they want us to use power tandoors, then we should be given some relief in power tariffs too,” he says.