The government is likely to allow Reliance Industries Ltd to sell domestic cooking gas directly to bulk consumers in the country to overcome the problem of glut in LPG during lean season.
Ministry of petroleum and natural gas is circulating a Cabinet note for allowing sale of indigenously produced LPG (in excess of public distribution system demand) by producers like RIL in domestic market as per their commercial considerations, official sources said in New Delhi.
If approved, the decision would also help state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Gail sell bulk LPG produced by them (after meeting the commitment to oil marketing companies for PDS requirement) directly to the consumers.
Currently, four state-run oil firms -- Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and IBP -- market subsidised LPG (domestic) under the public distribution system, constituting about 96 per cent of the total LPG being marketed by them.
Indigenous producers of LPG like ONGC, Gail, public sector refineries and RIL can only sell LPG to state-run oil retailers for meeting PDS demand.
Sources said RIL was keen on offering surplus LPG to parallel marketeers as an import substitute in view of threat of production cut or containment problem due to high LPG inventory at its Jamnagar refinery, especially in the lean season (April to September).
Presently, parallel marketeers are allowed to sell only imported LPG to bulk consumers.
"The proposal, being put before Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, would allow the producers to sell surplus LPG (after meeting PDS requirement) to domestic consumers," they said.
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