Aditi Tandon, Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 29, 2007. Ever wondered why you don’t get your LPG refills in time? That heavily subsidised domestic refill meant just for you is being grabbed for commercial use all across Punjab.
Abusing your right are owners of hotels, restaurants, dhabas, commercial messes and vehicle owners who prefer cheap gas over expensive fuel.
Official data on LPG connections in Punjab reveals there are negligible commercial LPG users in the state - less than even the fraction of a per cent. Being revealed for the first time, this data has been procured after a yearlong struggle under the Right to Information Act, from two major oil companies operating in Punjab.
In the industrial city of Bathinda, commercial LPG connections of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) are just 0.14 per cent of the total gas connections. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and BPCL together have 84, 558 gas connections in Bathinda; of these only 151 (0.18 per cent) are commercial users. How the town’s business is running is anybody’s guess.
The commercial city of Ludhiana works with just 0.29 per cent commercial LPG connections, whereas IOC and BPCL have 4, 95,597 gas connections in the city. In Patiala, commercial LPG users are only 0.39 per cent of the total; in Sangrur, they are just 0.30 per cent of the total gas users. Clearly, domestic LPG is being blatantly diverted for commercial use, and oil companies’ coffers being left empty.
The gap between domestic and commercial gas users in all major commercial towns of Punjab and Chandigarh included is yawning. In Bathinda, there is one commercial LPG connection against every 559 domestic connections; in Ludhiana the ratio of commercial to domestic gas users is 1: 346 and in Sangrur, it is 1: 337.
And if you thought Chandigarh’s bustling restaurant business was “legally” running on commercial LPG, think again. Here, the IOC and BPCL have a total of 2, 47, 779 gas connections with only 1009 (0.41 per cent) of these being commercial.
Now about towns in Punjab. In many of Punjab’s prospering commercial towns like Sunam, Barnala, Longowal and Bahadurgarh, the BPCL does not have even a single commercial gas connection. Others like Lalru, Nabha, Sangrur, Bhawanigarh, Dhanaula, Khanna and Sanaur are surviving on negligible commercial LPG connections.
A BPCL gas agency in Lalru has four commercial gas connections against 9, 726 domestic users; in Dhanaula, it has 12 commercial users against 9, 417 domestic; in Khanna there are six commercial gas connections against 4, 004 domestic users. The story repeats itself across Punjab, as subsidised domestic gas finds its way into commercial activity.
While oil companies are busy weeding out bogus/duplicate domestic LPG connections, it is strange how they are allowing the misuse of domestic LPG, says Kamal Anand of People for Transparency, Sangrur, which filed the application under the RTI to seek information on the subject. Even the government, which offers Rs 177 subsidy per domestic cylinder, is little concerned about who is using that subsidy.
The misuse is clearly rooted in the pricing of LPG - whereas domestic LPG costs Rs 21 per kg, commercial costs Rs 45 a kg. Sales tax on domestic gas is also lower because VAT levied on it is 4 per cent as against 12.5 per cent VAT on commercial gas.
Chandigarh, September 29, 2007. Ever wondered why you don’t get your LPG refills in time? That heavily subsidised domestic refill meant just for you is being grabbed for commercial use all across Punjab.
Abusing your right are owners of hotels, restaurants, dhabas, commercial messes and vehicle owners who prefer cheap gas over expensive fuel.
Official data on LPG connections in Punjab reveals there are negligible commercial LPG users in the state - less than even the fraction of a per cent. Being revealed for the first time, this data has been procured after a yearlong struggle under the Right to Information Act, from two major oil companies operating in Punjab.
In the industrial city of Bathinda, commercial LPG connections of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) are just 0.14 per cent of the total gas connections. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and BPCL together have 84, 558 gas connections in Bathinda; of these only 151 (0.18 per cent) are commercial users. How the town’s business is running is anybody’s guess.
The commercial city of Ludhiana works with just 0.29 per cent commercial LPG connections, whereas IOC and BPCL have 4, 95,597 gas connections in the city. In Patiala, commercial LPG users are only 0.39 per cent of the total; in Sangrur, they are just 0.30 per cent of the total gas users. Clearly, domestic LPG is being blatantly diverted for commercial use, and oil companies’ coffers being left empty.
The gap between domestic and commercial gas users in all major commercial towns of Punjab and Chandigarh included is yawning. In Bathinda, there is one commercial LPG connection against every 559 domestic connections; in Ludhiana the ratio of commercial to domestic gas users is 1: 346 and in Sangrur, it is 1: 337.
And if you thought Chandigarh’s bustling restaurant business was “legally” running on commercial LPG, think again. Here, the IOC and BPCL have a total of 2, 47, 779 gas connections with only 1009 (0.41 per cent) of these being commercial.
Now about towns in Punjab. In many of Punjab’s prospering commercial towns like Sunam, Barnala, Longowal and Bahadurgarh, the BPCL does not have even a single commercial gas connection. Others like Lalru, Nabha, Sangrur, Bhawanigarh, Dhanaula, Khanna and Sanaur are surviving on negligible commercial LPG connections.
A BPCL gas agency in Lalru has four commercial gas connections against 9, 726 domestic users; in Dhanaula, it has 12 commercial users against 9, 417 domestic; in Khanna there are six commercial gas connections against 4, 004 domestic users. The story repeats itself across Punjab, as subsidised domestic gas finds its way into commercial activity.
While oil companies are busy weeding out bogus/duplicate domestic LPG connections, it is strange how they are allowing the misuse of domestic LPG, says Kamal Anand of People for Transparency, Sangrur, which filed the application under the RTI to seek information on the subject. Even the government, which offers Rs 177 subsidy per domestic cylinder, is little concerned about who is using that subsidy.
The misuse is clearly rooted in the pricing of LPG - whereas domestic LPG costs Rs 21 per kg, commercial costs Rs 45 a kg. Sales tax on domestic gas is also lower because VAT levied on it is 4 per cent as against 12.5 per cent VAT on commercial gas.
People for Transparency has filed almost 25 application under the Right to Information Act 2005 & procured data in regard to the commercial & domestic connection in northren India, to everybody surprised commercial connections are mere .341%, how all the commerical activities connected with LPG are conducted is known to every government official but they are not concerned.
so nice blog, i like it.
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