Northeast rural areas to have LPG connections

LPG connections will be available in rural and remote areas of the north east region by next year, a senior official of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) said today.
With adequate LPG cylinders available for distribution in towns and cities, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has decided to extend the facility to rural and remote villages of the region, IOC Executive Director (Marketing) Pryovat Dey said.
The Rajiv Gandhi Grammin LPG Vitrak Yojana (RGGLVY) scheme will end the cutting and felling of trees, prevent deforestation and save the environment benefitting villages, thereby increasing the people's economic activity.
Initially the people's response would be limited as also investment in LPG distributorship, but would increase over time, Dey said.

Meetings have already been held in the identified remote areas of the region to make people aware of LPG, its benefits and safety measures while using the cylinders, he said.
Under the scheme, small distributors with capacity for 1,000 to 1,200 cylinders and small godowns will be permitted to operate in the rural areas.
The scheme would have to be implemented by 2015 when a minimum 75 per cent of the rural households are expected to be covered and benefited, according to the government mandate.
IOC is the only oil marketing company to cater to all the north eastern states, he said adding it aims to go to the interior areas to supply LPG cylinders to the rural people so that they can enjoy the benefit of using LPG cylinders, Dey added.