LPG to be available at petrol pumps

Cooking gas (LPG) will now be available at select petrol pumps in metro cities after the oil ministry has allowed sale of small 5kg cylinders at retail outlets. It has also permitted LPG connection portability, allowing consumers to choose or change cooking gas dealer at press of a button, an official statement said here on Wednesday.

LPG 5kg cylinders will be available at company-owned-company-operated (COCO) petrol pumps, which make up for just 3 per cent of over 47,000 petrol pumps in the country.

However, they will be priced at market rate which is more than double the subsidised price of Rs 410 per 14.2kg cylinder in Delhi. Oil minister M Veerappa Moily will launch the sale of 5kg cylinder at Bangalore on 5 October. Initially, LPG cylinder sale will be restricted to COCO petrol pumps in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru.

Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and HP have 1,440 COCO pumps in the country. The number of outlets in the five cities initially chosen for launch of the scheme would be a few dozen.