Siddaramaiah writes to Centre, seeks integrated monitoring for commercial LPG and CNG

He said the shortage in supply of commercial LPG has resulted in the increased “shutting down of establishments due to non-availability of commercial LPG” and has affected “students, IT professionals, farmers, dairy producers, along with a large section of the public who are dependent on the hospitality sector”.

“While there is an existing IT system to monitor the domestic gas supply, there is no integrated platform available for monitoring the commercial supplies,” Siddaramaiah wrote in the letter.

“Similarly, Auto LPG is a critical fuel for a large number of auto-rickshaws, which form an important part of the city’s last-mile connectivity and support the livelihood of many drivers. However, there is no integrated system to monitor the distribution of Auto LPG, which leads to a lack of transparency and accountability,” the Karnataka CM said.

“We are given to understand that India is about to receive two tankers which can substantially ease the above problems. Hence, I request your kind intervention to ensure adequate allocation and availability of commercial LPG and Auto LPG to Karnataka, keeping in view the operational requirements and unique dependency patterns of the state, specially city of Bengaluru,” Siddaramaiah said.

He added that Karnataka has taken “steps to regulate and prioritise allocation for essential segments to manage the situation,” in line with the Centre’s indicative guidelines.

On March 10, the Karnataka CM wrote to the Union Petroleum Minister requesting adequate supply of commercial LPG cylinders in Karnataka, especially Bengaluru, following the West Asia conflict.

His March 10 letter came after the Bengaluru hoteliers’ association expressed concern over LPG supplies, following the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas’s order to prioritise LPG supplies to domestic consumers amid the conflict in West Asia.