Chandigarh, February 5 (Doaba News Service)- Want a refill for your cooking gas cylinder immediately in this period of shortage? Be ready to shell out anything between Rs 550 and Rs 600 for a domestic LPG cylinder, if you do not wish to wait for your turn to get the refill. No, the price of LPG has not shot up suddenly, as has been suggested by the Parikh committee. Its just that black marketeers are making a quick buck, selling LPG at a premium. With a severe shortage of LPG in the region, black marketeering in these cooking gas cylinders is on in almost all towns and cities in the region. Though the three state-owned oil marketing companies --- Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL)-- deny that there is a shortage of LPG, saying that gas is being delivered within four to 10 days of booking (different waiting period for different company), consumers maintain otherwise. Sachin Kumar, a resident of Patiala, rued that he had to wait for almost a month to get his LPG refill (HP gas). “I had no option but to buy the LPG in the black. As against a price of Rs 318, I ended up paying Rs 600 for one domestic ...
Read Full Story

Jalandhar, January 19 (DNS)- Reacting to the “non-cooperative attitude” of the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) authorities in smoothening the supply of LPG, the Punjab unit of the All-India LPG Distributors Federation today threatened that shutters of the HPCL gas agencies would be pulled down if the corporation failed to cover the backlog. Representatives of the federation alleged that only 40 per cent of the total LPG required was being supplied by the corporation. In these circumstances, it was not possible for the agency owners to fulfil the demand of the consumers. “As oil corporations are bearing losses to the tune of Rs 300 per cylinder, the HPCL authorities are forcing their distributors to minimise the sale, so that the magnitude of the loss can be brought down. Though the two other oil corporations, Bharat Petroleum and Indian Petroleum, are also bearing the same loss, they are successfully maintaining the supply line,” said Capt KJS Butter, president of the north-west region of the federation. He along with the state president of the federation, Harsimarjit Kaur, and distributors from all over the state threatened that the HPCL distributors ...
Read Full Story