Commercial demand for LPG up by 50%

NASHIK: While the demand for subsidized domestic LPG cylinders had decreased after a ceiling on cylinders available to households was imposed by the ministry of petroleum, the demand for cylinders at commercial rates has increased by nearly 50% with commercial establishments being forced to buy non-subsidized LPG.
According to officials of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), which has the largest consumer base in the district, the demand for commercial cylinders has gone up by nearly 50% as compared to the same time last year.This was mainly because subsidized domestic cylinders are not easily available in the market following the cap imposed by the Centre, officials said.
“Given the new announcement, those engaged in diverting subsidized domestic cylinders for commercial use such as in automobiles, restaurants and kiosks, have stopped such activity. Besides, customers with more than one connections, or connections on the same or different addresses have also been brought under the scanner, resulting in a fall in the demand for domestic cylinders by nearly 20% compared to last year,” an official said.
While a 19-kg volume commercial cylinder costs Rs 1,701 the 14.2-kg-subsidised domestic cylinder costs Rs 432. Before the LPG cap in September, domestic cylinders were sold in the open market at a premium lower than the rate of a commercial cylinder. The subsidized cylinders would be refilled illegally in commercial cylinders using pumps. But this practice has almost stopped following the non availability of subsidised domestic cylinders, resulting in an increased demand for commercial cylinders by 50%, a senior official from Hindustan Petroleum said.
While the company sold around 13,000 subsidized cylinders per day in the month of August, their sale figures have dipped by 2%. “The demand for subsidized cylinders has dropped drastically but the sale of commercial cylinders has picked up, with the average sale of commercial cylindersnow growing by 10%,” the official said. Reportedly, the subsidy cap has begun making a dent in curbing the illegal practice of using subsidized domestic LPG for commercial use.