TG seeks Centre’s intervention on commercial LPG shortage

Hyderabad: The State government has written to the Central government seeking urgent intervention to resolve the shortage of commercial gas cylinders and strengthen the LPG supply system in Telangana.

To address public grievances, Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy announced that a dedicated helpline has been set up at the Telangana Civil Supplies department headquarters. Consumers facing issues related to gas supply can contact the toll-free number 180042500333.

The Minister held a review meeting with LPG distributors and representatives of oil companies to assess the current supply situation. He said both state-level and district-level monitoring committees have been constituted to closely oversee the distribution of LPG across Telangana. He clarified that there is no shortage of domestic Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders in the state, though some difficulties are being faced in the supply of commercial cylinders.

Warning against illegal practices, Uttam Kumar Reddy said strict action will be taken against those involved in black marketing of LPG cylinders.

According to the Minister, the State currently has 811 LPG distributors serving consumers. Out of about 1.3 crore gas connections in the State, nearly 11 lakh are under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana and 28 lakh under the Deepam Scheme. In addition, there are around 7.5 lakh commercial gas connections.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said that between 58 lakh and 60 lakh domestic gas cylinders are supplied across the State every month. However, he noted that bookings have nearly doubled in the past few days due to public anxiety. Despite the surge in demand, he reiterated that there is no shortage of domestic LPG cylinders and that about 2.5 lakh cylinders are being supplied daily. Additional supplies were also dispatched over the past two days to meet demand, he added.

The Minister acknowledged that the shortage is mainly in commercial LPG cylinders. He explained that while the state requires around 23,000 commercial cylinders per day, only about 6,200 are currently being supplied. This, he said, is due to Central Government guidelines restricting the supply of commercial cylinders to 20 percent.