Gurgaon: To prevent migrant workers from returning home amid the ongoing LPG supply constraint, fuel companies have introduced 5kg cylinders that can be purchased even without a formal gas connection. Residents can access these smaller cylinders by presenting any government-approved identity document.However, distribution has been sluggish — only 480 cylinders have been issued across the district in the past three days. Separately, some workers pointed out that the system only allows the purchase and refill of a fixed 5kg quantity, unlike the informal market, which allowed buying or refilling based on what one could afford.
Gas agencies said the pace will pick up as more people become aware of the option. People will need to visit the nearest gas agency for the first purchase, but subsequent refills can be booked online and delivered directly to their doorstep. Authorities hope the initiative will ease the crisis and ensure uninterrupted access to cooking fuel for vulnerable households.At present, there is no clarity about the number of refills that can be provided to one person. LPG agencies said they will monitor the distribution of small cylinders, which will be tagged to the identity document.“One small LPG cylinder can last around 20–25 days for a family, so one can get a maximum of one or two cylinders in a month,” said an official of a fuel company. He clarified that there is capping, and the allotment of small LPG cylinders will be monitored.Bharat Singh Yadav, president of the All Indian LPG Distributors Federation (Haryana), said the direction from govt came on April 1 and agencies started placing orders from April 2. “The initial numbers are fewer, but they will increase in the coming days as more people become aware of it,” said Yadav.Anyone without a formal LPG connection can walk into a nearby agency with a valid identity document and get a 5kg LPG cylinder after paying Rs 1,564. “From the next refill, they will have to pay Rs 584, including Rs 30 delivery charges,” said Yadav, adding that refill requests could be placed online and cylinders will be delivered to their home.The 5kg cylinders, known as Free Trade LPG (FTL), come under the commercial LPG category, and consumers will be charged commercial rates. Domestic LPG costs Rs 64.9 per kg, while commercial LPG costs Rs 110.26 per kg, and 5kg LPG will cost Rs 110.8 per kg.Yadav said the 5kg LPG cylinder is not a new product; it was earlier available in the market but never became popular because of the easy availability of domestic and commercial LPG cylinders. As per the norm, one cannot hold more than 100kg of LPG without a licence.“We had appointed general stores in different areas as local distributors of this 5kg LPG earlier and stocked up to 19 cylinders at a time, but there was no demand and general stores stopped stocking this product,” said Yadav, adding that migrants would not have faced the problem had general stores not given up on the scheme earlier.“Earlier, we used to get refills of small quantities of Rs 100, Rs 200 and even Rs 50 depending on the money, and it was available in our vicinity. Now we will have to take the entire 5kg refill at a time,” said Rupesh, a construction worker. However, he said the unavailability of cylinders will not force him to return home.
