Low LPG Coverage in West Bengal The Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today that Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have reported that the LPG coverage in West Bengal is 49.3%, which is less than the all India coverage of 68.8%. Appointment of LPG distributorships and release of new LPG connection is a continuous process. As on 01.04.2015, there are 555 Regular distributors and 229 Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitaraks (RGGLVs) in the State of West Bengal, covering 299 out of 341 blocks in the State. To do away with the shortfall upto an extent, OMCs have advertised 168 Regular and 338 RGGLVs to open new LPG distributors in the State of West Bengal. New LPG connections are issued on demand on the basis of applications received by OMCs. During the year 2014-15, 11.89 lac new domestic LPG connections were released in the State of West Bengal. In order to extend LPG coverage to the needy, a scheme for providing one time grant to BPL families in the rural areas for release of new LPG connection through Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitaran Yojana is in operation in the country including the State of West Bengal. As per the scheme, the security deposit (upto Rs. 1600/-) for one cylinder and Pressure Regulator is paid from the fund created for this purpose. As on 01.04.2015, OMCs have released 7753 new domestic LPG connections to BPL families from the CSR fund scheme in the State of West Bengal. MJPS/Rk
