MINISTER OF PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (SHRI MURLI DEORA )
(a) to (e) : A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 334
BY SHRI MADHU KODA AND SHRIMATI SUMITRA MAHAJAN TO BE ANSWERED ON 2ND DECEMBER, 2010
REGARDING AVAILABILITY OF LPG.
(a) to (e) : The annual production of LPG in the country is about 9.7 Million Metric Tonne (MMT) during the current year (2010).
Public Sector oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have assessed the requirement/demand of
domestic LPG/commercial LPG for the entire country for the current year 2010 as 13.7 MMT.
Against the projected demand of 13.7 MMT, 9.7 MMT is indigenously available and the balance
quantity is being imported to meet the demand in full.
The details of demand/sales of domestic LPG cylinders during the year 2008, 2009 and
from January – October, 2010 are 7504.2 lakh, 7776 lakh and 7010.1 lakh respectively.The
State-wise details are at Annexure.
OMCs have reported that at present, there is no overall shortage of LPG cylinders in
the country and LPG supplies to distributors are being made by the OMCs through indigenous
production and imports in accordance with the genuine demand of customers registered with
the LPG distributors.
OMCs have given instructions to their LPG distributors for making deliveries to
consumers within 48 hours of booking subject to availability of filled LPG cylinders.
LPG distributors are also advised to maintain sufficient delivery infrastructure to ensure
prompt delivery of refills. However, due to uncontrollable localized factors like strikes,
bandhs, natural calamities etc., delay in refill supply is sometimes unavoidable.
OMCs have reported a backlog of few days in LPG supplies in certain States in the
country due to a combination of factors viz. unplanned shutdown of refineries at some of
the sources, shortage of LPG in the global market, restricted movement of bulk LPG tank
trucks, due to heavy unexpected rainfall in different parts of the country, bulk LPG tank
truck drivers’ strike in Southern Region during October 2010 and excessive booking due to
various festivals etc. Government has reviewed the overall backlog situation and has advised
OMCs to liquidate it in the country by operating the bottling plants on holidays and during
extended hours.
The possibility of blackmarketing/diversion of subsidized domestic LPG cylinders by some
unscrupulous elements can not be ruled out due to the wide gap between the retail price of
LPG for domestic use and the market price for commercial LPG.
Surprise Quality Control Checks which include weighment of cylinders, are carried out
at the distributor’s godowns and weight checking of filled cylinders in transit is being done
by the field officers to check pilferage/presence of any underweight cylinders. The
distributors have also been instructed to satisfy the customers about the correct weight
of cylinders by weighing them, to ensure that the seals are verified & shown to the customers
at the time of delivery. In case any under-weight cylinder is received by the customer, such
cylinders are replaced free of charge by the OMCs.
Government has enacted “Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Regulation of Supply and Distribution) Order,
2000†and formulated “Marketing Discipline Guidelines, 2001†which provide for penal action
against erring LPG distributors for serious malpractices like diversion of domestic LPG
cylinder for non-domestic use, recovery of unauthorized charges from customers,supply of
underweight cylinders, etc.
MDG, 2001 provides inter-alia following action against erring LPG distributors for major
offences :
# Fine of Rs. 20,000 plus the price of LPG diverted at commercial rates for 1st offence.
# Fine of Rs. 50,000 plus the price of LPG diverted at commercial rates for 2nd offence.
# Termination of the distributorship for 3rd offence.
In addition to the action taken by the OMCs, State Governments are also empowered to
take action under the LPG (Regulation of Supply & Distribution) Order, 2000.Similarly,
the Weights and Measures Departments of the States / UTs initiate legal action against those
LPG distributors found supplying under-weight LPG cylinders.
