BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh government has come out with guidelines for LPG gas cylinder distribution amid reports that the country’s LPG imports are likely to nearly halve this month due to the West Asia conflict and resultant blockage of the Strait of Hormuz.
Under the new guidelines, the state government’s department of food and civil supplies has accorded priority to educational institutions and medical facilities in the distribution of the commercial cylinders.
Out of the total available supply of commercial cylinders, 30 per cent of the available supplies will be allocated to educational institutions and medical-health institutions, to meet their 100 per cent requirements.
A quota of 35 per cent has been fixed for running all essential services, including the central armed police services, security agencies, the state police department, jails, the department of social justice, women and child development and other departmental institutions housing the elderly, women and children.
The 35 per cent quota will also take care of the requirements of airports, railways, and Deendayal Rasois (community kitchens).
Further, nine per cent each quota has been fixed for hotels, restaurants-caterers, while seven per cent has been allocated for dhabas and street food vendors.
Five per cent quota out of the available stock of commercial cylinders will be allocated to pharmaceuticals, food processing, poultry food and seed processing industrial units.
The remaining five per cent quota has been allocated for other industries and services, which will be decided on a case-by-case basis, as mentioned in a circular issued by the state’s department of food and civil supplies to all 55 district collectors in the state.
The commercial cylinders will be supplied in packed cylinder units of 5 kg, 19 kg, 47.5 kg and 425 kg.
The state’s minister for food and civil supplies, Govind Singh Rajput, has also asked to prevent hoarding and ensure equitable distribution.
The daily quantity of LPG to be supplied to each consumer will be determined based on their average daily consumption recorded in the relevant OMC (Oil Marketing Company) software system over the preceding three months.
The supply will be strictly limited to this prescribed percentage limit. OMCs shall accept online booking requests through their respective systems and maintain date-wise records of all refill requests.
Pending requirements within each priority category shall be fulfilled on the following day, to the extent possible, subject to availability.