Hyderabad: Civil supplies minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Tuesday urged Union petroleum and natural gas minister Hardeep Singh Puri to ramp up Auto LPG availability, stating there is a shortfall of 55 metric tonne (MT) of it per day in Telangana due to prevailing supply constraints.Seeking an urgent intervention to address the shortage of Auto LPG, Uttam Kumar Reddy, in his letter to the Union minister, stated that nearly a lakh auto-rickshaws run on LPG in the state. All these autos were now facing disruptions due to a daily shortfall of around 55 MT of LPG. The shortage has led to dry-outs at a majority of private outlets, affecting public transport services and causing inconvenience to commuters, he stated.Uttam highlighted the fact that Telangana was strictly adhering to the Centre’s directives amid the ongoing Middle East crisis — ensuring 100% supply of domestic LPG and regulating commercial LPG, and that the Auto LPG segment has been significantly impacted.Oil public sector undertakings (PSUs) such as IOCL, BPCL and HPCL were operating only 33 outlets with about 20% market share in Telangana. However, private operators account for nearly 80% market share with over 110 outlets in the state. The Auto LPG supply disruptions from oil PSUs have impacted the private distributors severely, he added.Citing the example of a private operator (Total Energies), which runs 15 outlets in Telangana, the civil supplies minister said around 80% of its LPG requirement depends on PSU supplies, which have now been disrupted, leading to operational difficulties.Uttam urged the Centre to ramp up Auto LPG availability at PSU outlets, direct public sector companies to support private distributors by supplying deficit LPG, and take regulatory measures to prevent steep price differences.Currently, auto LPG is priced at 75 per kg at PSU outlets, while private operators were charging up to 93 per kg, he stated in his letter to the Union minister.Stressing the urgency of the situation, Uttam stated that prompt intervention would help alleviate the current challenges, ensure uninterrupted public transport services and protect the livelihoods of auto drivers and their families.
