BackGovernment plans to open 10,000 LPG dealers in 2016: Dharmendra Pradhan
The government has asked for suggestions from states about locations where liquified petroleum gas retail dealerships can be opened
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New Delhi: The government has set an ambitious target of opening 10,000 new liquified petroleum gas (LPG) dealerships in 2016 on top of around 16,000 existing dealers in the country.
On 1 January, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan had announced 2016 as the “year of LPG consumers" and this is yet another step in the direction of making clean cooking fuel available to the entire population of the country by 2018, particularly in rural areas.
“We have set a target of opening 10,000 new LPG retail dealers in 2016," Pradhan told reporters on Friday.
He was addressing a press conference on the fourth India-Africa Hydrocarbons Conference to be held on 21-22 January. “Oil marketing companies have done the basic spadework. We are getting suggestions from MPs (members of Parliaments) and states about locations where LPG retail dealerships can be opened," Pradhan said.
Earlier, the minister had also talked about rolling out online bill payment facility (in 2016) and transparent gas cylinders (during 2016-17). At present, there are 27 crore LPG subscribers in the country, of which 16.5 crore are active subscribers.
Oil marketing companies cover about 60% of the population. About the planned direct benefit transfer scheme for kerosene in 33 districts across seven states from 1 April, he said, “We will soon call a meeting of the states and give a detailed presentation. I hope that there could be more states who can join this pilot."
On promoting use of compressed natural gas (CNG) for vehicles, he said he will talk to the chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to adjust value added tax so that CNG prices remain uniform in the National Capital Region. He talked about opening of 104 CNG retail outlets by oil marketing companies in addition to the existing 350 CNG-filling stations in the next three months.
On bio-fuel blending with fossil fuels, he said oil marketing companies will procure 120 crore litres of ethanol, which is 5% of the country’s petrol consumption.
On the 4th India-Africa Hydrocarbons Conference, the minister said as many as 17 countries have confirmed their participation and of these, 10 countries are sending ministerial level officials to the conference. The minister said that Africa is a hot spot for investments in the oil and gas sector, and the country’s oil imports from Nigeria will increase in future.
During 2014-15, India imported 32 million tonnes of crude oil from African nations, including 2.2 million tonnes from Nigeria. India imports about 189 million tonnes of crude oil annually. PTI
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