The strike will be continued for indefinite period till NOC make arrangements to bring in fuel in necessary quantity, said LPG Dealers Association. “We have decided to take this harsh step after NOC failed to supply adequate fuel in the market,” said Gyaneshwar Aryal, president of LPG Dealers Association. [break]
He said that the bottlers were presently fulfilling only half the normal demand and that has exposed dealers, who are mere distributors of LPG companies, to anger and physical threats of consumers.
Joining hands with the retailers, the LPG Industries Association (LPGIA) too have announced that they will not collect purchase delivery order (PDO), which is necessary for receiving gas from the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) refineries, thereby bringing imports to a grinding halt.
“We repeatedly requested the NOC to step up import volume. However, NOC continued to issue PDO for much lesser volume,” said Suresh Prajapati of LPGIA.
The association on Sunday had submitted a memorandum to NOC, demanding it to ensure supplies enough to match the demand in the country.
According to NOC, monthly consumption of LPG in the country stands at 12,000 tons. However, LPG bottlers said demand has presently soared to 15,000 tons a month. “And the NOC is issuing us with PDO to import mere 11,000 tons of gas,” Prajapati added.
Gas companies said that demand of LPG has soared of late, mainly with the rise in the price of kerosene. LPG is also used as fuel in the automotive sector and also consumed for operating geyser and generators.
The demand of LPG has soared mainly because the government continues to pledge a huge subsidy of Rs 205 per cylinder (14.2 kgs) to gas consumers, who are relatively well off urban consumers, whereas no such subsidy is pledged to even the low end petroleum consumers.
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