LPG penetration in Northeast to cross 80 pc by March 2019

• The LPG cylinder penetration in the Northeast region is likely to touch 80 per cent by the end of 2018-19, much ahead of its initial plan to reach this target by 2030.
• The rigorous push to achieve the target ahead of its time was received during implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) in the region from last year.
• The penetration level in the region has gone up to over 76 per cent at present from around 44 per cent in 2015-16. The oil marketing companies, comprising IOCL, HPCL and BPCL, together used to release around six lakh LPG connections annually, transforming an average of about 1,700 per day.
• Now, this number has shot up to 5,830 cylinders every day. It is an unthinkable jump that the industry has achieved. It was possible due to effort in implementing the ‘Gram Swaraj Abhiyan’ under the PMUY.
• The public sector undertaking Indian Oil Corporation currently has 10 LPG bottling plants across the Northeast region and these are functioning at over 100 per cent utilisation.
• The company is investing over Rs 286 crore to enhance its LPG bottling capacity, including setting up of two greenfield plants at Agartala in Tripura and Barapani in Meghalaya, by 2020.
• IOC is pumping Rs 143.46 crore to set up the plant at Agartala by June 2019 that will have an installed bottling capacity of 60,000 metric tonne per annum (MTPA).
• The Barapani unit, which is at an initial stage now, will have a capacity of 30,000 MTPA and will cost Rs 74 crore.
• Apart from the two units, the company is adding capacities to its existing bottling facilities at Silchar, Bongaigaon and North Guwahati.
• The expanded Silchar unit has been commissioned just recently after increasing the capacity to 1,20,000 MTPA from 60,000 MTPA at a cost of Rs 23.45 crore.
• In North Guwahati, the company is spending Rs 45.13 crore for raising the output to 1,80,000 MTPA from 1,20,000 MTPA, besides having two mounted storage vessels of 600 MT each.
• The expansion work at the Bongaigaon unit has been completed and the capacity is now doubled to 60,000 MTPA.

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)

• Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna is a scheme of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas for providing LPG connections to women from Below Poverty Line (BPL) households.
• It was launched in May 2016 in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh
  Key features:
• Aim to replace unclean cooking fuels used in the most underprivileged households with clean and more efficient LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas)
• Families below the poverty line are to be provided with LPG connections with a support of Rs. 1,600 per connection.
• Oil Marketing Companies would provide an option for the new consumer to opt for loan to cover the cost of a cooking stove and first refill.
• The LPG connections will be issued in the name of the women of the households.

By: Ziyaur Rahman