‘Cabinet may consider raising LPG cylinder cap this week’
22 Jan 2014 6:33 AM IST
‘After our vice president Rahul Gandhi said nine cylinders are not enough, I have moved a Cabinet note to increase the quota to 12. I think the Cabinet is likely to consider the proposal this week,’ Moily said after launching the sale of 5-kg cooking gas (LPG) cylinders at petrol pumps in the national capital.
Gandhi stated at the All India Congress Committee session last week that there was a need to increase the quota to 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg each.
Moily said 89.2 per cent of the 15 crore LPG consumers use up to nine cylinders in a year and only 10 per cent have to buy the additional requirement at the market price. If the quota is raised to 12, about 97 per cent of the LPG consumers would be covered by subsidised LPG, he said. Increasing the limit to 12 would result in an additional fuel subsidy burden of Rs 3,300 crore-4,000 crore. The government already incurs about Rs 46,000 crore per annum as LPG subsidy.
The government had initially capped the supply of subsidised domestic LPG cylinders to six per household annually in September 2012 in a bid to cut its subsidy bill. The quota was raised to nine in January 2013.
Consumers who have exhausted their quota have to buy LPG at the market price of Rs 1,258 per cylinder. Subsidised LPG costs Rs 414 per cylinder in Delhi.
Moily said the price of subsidised LPG hasn't been raised even though international prices have gone up.
‘We import 40 per cent of our LPG,’ he said, adding that the 5-kg cylinders being made available at petrol pumps in 24 cities will be extended all over the country.
Customers can walk into a petrol pump with proof of identity and walk out with a 5-kg cylinder, he said. The 5-kg cylinders will be sold at petrol pumps for Rs 585.
Cooking gas cylinders were until now sold only by 13,088 LPG distributors or dealers of state-owned firms. Now, the convenient 5-kg bottle will also be available at some of the 50,392 petrol pumps across the country.
Moily said the 5-kg cylinders will initially be avaiable at 18 petrol pumps in the national capital.
The 5-kg cylinder scheme will benefit the migratory population such as students, IT professionals and BPO employees, as well as people with odd work hours.
It offers them greater flexibility to pick up cylinders and obtain refills because petrol stations are open for longer hours than LPG dealers.
The first-time purchase of a 5-kg cylinder will cost Rs 1,000 plus taxes, while a cylinder regulator will be available for Rs 250 and taxes. The initial charge includes a security deposit for the cylinder.
Subsequent refills will be available at prevailing market prices, he said.
Will Clear environmental approval backlog by mid-February: Moily
New Delhi: After approving projects worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore in the first three weeks, Environment Minister M Veerappa Moily on Tuesday said that he has decided on 55 other projects and will clear the backlog by mid-February. ‘I have cleared 55 pending cases...in some cases (environment) approval has been accorded and there are also some where it has not been because of procedures not being followed,’ he said here.
Moily, however, did not give details of the projects he had decided upon during the past week.
Moily said he had in the initial three weeks approved Rs 1.5 lakh crore worth of projects, including South Korean giant Posco’s $12-billion steel plant in Odisha. ‘I believe in quick decision-making. I don’t think it is right to keep decisions pending,’ he said.
Moily, who is also the Oil Minister, took additional charge of the Ministry of Environment and Forests from Jayanti Natarajan on 24 December, and plans to clear the backlog by mid-February.
Gandhi stated at the All India Congress Committee session last week that there was a need to increase the quota to 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg each.
Moily said 89.2 per cent of the 15 crore LPG consumers use up to nine cylinders in a year and only 10 per cent have to buy the additional requirement at the market price. If the quota is raised to 12, about 97 per cent of the LPG consumers would be covered by subsidised LPG, he said. Increasing the limit to 12 would result in an additional fuel subsidy burden of Rs 3,300 crore-4,000 crore. The government already incurs about Rs 46,000 crore per annum as LPG subsidy.
The government had initially capped the supply of subsidised domestic LPG cylinders to six per household annually in September 2012 in a bid to cut its subsidy bill. The quota was raised to nine in January 2013.
Consumers who have exhausted their quota have to buy LPG at the market price of Rs 1,258 per cylinder. Subsidised LPG costs Rs 414 per cylinder in Delhi.
Moily said the price of subsidised LPG hasn't been raised even though international prices have gone up.
‘We import 40 per cent of our LPG,’ he said, adding that the 5-kg cylinders being made available at petrol pumps in 24 cities will be extended all over the country.
Customers can walk into a petrol pump with proof of identity and walk out with a 5-kg cylinder, he said. The 5-kg cylinders will be sold at petrol pumps for Rs 585.
Cooking gas cylinders were until now sold only by 13,088 LPG distributors or dealers of state-owned firms. Now, the convenient 5-kg bottle will also be available at some of the 50,392 petrol pumps across the country.
Moily said the 5-kg cylinders will initially be avaiable at 18 petrol pumps in the national capital.
The 5-kg cylinder scheme will benefit the migratory population such as students, IT professionals and BPO employees, as well as people with odd work hours.
It offers them greater flexibility to pick up cylinders and obtain refills because petrol stations are open for longer hours than LPG dealers.
The first-time purchase of a 5-kg cylinder will cost Rs 1,000 plus taxes, while a cylinder regulator will be available for Rs 250 and taxes. The initial charge includes a security deposit for the cylinder.
Subsequent refills will be available at prevailing market prices, he said.
Will Clear environmental approval backlog by mid-February: Moily
New Delhi: After approving projects worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore in the first three weeks, Environment Minister M Veerappa Moily on Tuesday said that he has decided on 55 other projects and will clear the backlog by mid-February. ‘I have cleared 55 pending cases...in some cases (environment) approval has been accorded and there are also some where it has not been because of procedures not being followed,’ he said here.
Moily, however, did not give details of the projects he had decided upon during the past week.
Moily said he had in the initial three weeks approved Rs 1.5 lakh crore worth of projects, including South Korean giant Posco’s $12-billion steel plant in Odisha. ‘I believe in quick decision-making. I don’t think it is right to keep decisions pending,’ he said.
Moily, who is also the Oil Minister, took additional charge of the Ministry of Environment and Forests from Jayanti Natarajan on 24 December, and plans to clear the backlog by mid-February.
Next Story
