98% of India's population will be covered with piped cooking gas: Minister

Hardeep Singh Puri said that during the pandemic, beneficiaries of the Ujjawala scheme were given free LPG cylinders

More than 82 per cent of India's land area and 98 per cent of the population will be covered with piped cooking gas after the latest round of expansion work, the government informed the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Bids for the expansion work will be opened on May 12 this year.

Replying to supplementary questions of members during Question Hour, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said once the award of bidding is done, it typically takes a certain number of years for the infrastructure to be laid.

"After the 11th round of bidding, we would have over 82 per cent of our land area and 98 per cent of our population complete so that piped cooking gas can be delivered to households," he informed the house.

"The only population that will be left will be some areas in the North East and Jammu and Kashmir because they are widely dispersed. Typically, cooking gas that comes through the pipe is cheaper and more consumer-friendly than that supplied through cylinders," he also said.

Puri said that during the pandemic, beneficiaries of the Ujjawala scheme were given free LPG cylinders.

Today the total number of gas cylinders, which stood at 14 crore in 2014, has gone up to 30 crore, and "we will cover the entire population and this is a work in progress," he also said.

To another supplementary, the minister said the government is setting up 50 LNG stations in the next few years out of a total of 1,000 that are proposed to be set up.

To another supplementary, the minister said state public transport providers and some other state enterprises were being supplied diesel at wholesale rates, which did not factor in dealer commission, etc.

In the aftermath of the pandemic and the military action in one part of the world, global oil prices went haywire and in the process there was wide fluctuations in the prices, he said.

"As a result, the supplies to the wholesalers somehow became more expensive than the supplies at the retail point. A lot of people who were getting discounted diesel started coming and queuing up in retail outlets. I am told that this is a market mechanism functioning issue which should resolve itself very soon as soon as there is stability in the market. The idea is not for anyone to charge wholesalers more than the retail," Puri told the house.

In his written reply to a question, the minister said there was no proposal to come up with an Administered Price Mechanism (APM) for both CNG and LNG to ensure firm prices.

He said petroleum products are outside the ambit of GST.

"LNG imports are under open general licensing and any entity can directly import the same," he said.

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