New Delhi:
Cooking gas (LPG) will now be available at select petrol pumps in metro cities after the Oil Ministry has allowed sale of small 5-kg cylinders at retail outlets.
Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily will launch the sale of 5-kg cylinder in Bangalore on Saturday. Initially, LPG cylinder sale will be restricted to COCO petrol pumps in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru.
The Oil Ministry has also permitted LPG connection portability, allowing consumers to choose or change cooking gas dealer at press of a button, an official statement said.
LPG 5-kg 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 14.2-kg cylinder in Delhi.
Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum together have 1,440 COCO pumps all over the country. The number of outlets in the five cities initially chosen for launch of the scheme would be a few dozen.
"This will be a boon to migratory population such as students, IT professionals, BPO employees and persons with odd duty timings as it would provide them the flexibility to pick up cylinders and obtain subsequent refills at time of their choice as petrol stations are open for longer hours," the statement said.
