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Jharkhand faces acute LPG crisis: Minister
The remark came in response to protest done by the ruling party legislators inside and outside the Assembly last week
Jharkhand finance minister Radhakrishna Kishore said in the Assembly on Monday that the state is facing a shortage of both domestic and commercial LPG, which is likely to affect household kitchens as well as businesses such as hotels, canteens and restaurants, besides resulting in a loss of GST revenue to the state exchequer.
The remark came in response to protest done by the ruling party legislators inside and outside the Assembly last week, alleging shortage of LPG crisis in wake of the US-Iran conflict. The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the other hand had accused the Congress party of creating panic when there was no shortage of the fuel in the state.
On Saturday, Kishore, who is also the parliamentary affairs minister, had assured the House on request from the treasury bench members that he would inform the members about the actual situation in the state on March 16.
Presenting a report on the issue after the Question Hour on Monday, Kishore said that problems have arisen in the delivery of domestic and commercial gas in the state.
“The refill booking interval for domestic LPG has been increased to 25 days from 15 days for urban consumers, while the same for rural consumers has been increased to 45 days. As of March 16, the number of pending refills for gas supplied by IOCL, HPCL, and BPCL stands at 3.27 lakh,”Kishore informed the House.
He said earlier delivery was done within 48 hours of booking, which has now been extended to three to four days for domestic consumers.
“The government cannot deny that the ongoing war involving the US, Israel and Iran is already having negative repercussions on the LPG situation in Jharkhand, and these effects are likely to intensify in the days ahead,”he added.
Kishore said that during a meeting with state officials on March 14, oil company officials stated that Jharkhand’s commercial gas cylinder requirement is 2,273.11 metric tonnes per month. As per a recent direction from the Centre, 80 per cent of the total commercial gas requirement has been slashed, Kishore said, quoting the oil companies.
“It means, Jharkhand will receive a supply of only 454.6 metric tonnes of commercial gas a month against its total requirement of 2,273.11 metric tonnes. There will be a gap of 1,818.51 metric tonnes,” he said.
Explaining the trickle down impact the shortage of commercial supply would have, the minister said that the shortage will largely impact industrial towns such as Dhanbad, Ranchi, Bokaro, Jamshedpur, and others, where canteen, hotel, and restaurant services will be affected.
“It is a major concern. The effect on hotels and restaurants will finally impact the state exchequer. The state’s GST revenue earned through these businesses will reduce,” Kishore added.
