LPG cap will check black marketing, says BPCL chief

Even as uproar over capping of subsidised cooking gas continues, second largest oil marketer Bharat Petroleum sees virtue in it, saying the move will help curb black marketing to a considerable extent. "I think it is a brilliant move. Black marketing takes place primarily due to the big (price) difference in domestic and commercial LPG. By restricting the supply to six cylinders per family per year, there will not be enough cylinders available in the system for diversion," Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) chairman and managing director R K Singh said .

Singh was responding to a question on what are the measures in place to stop the black marketing of the cooking gas, at a post-AGM press conference here over the weekend. Last week, the government risked its survival by rationalising oil subsidies by increasing diesel prices by a whopping 12 percent and capping subsidised cooking gas, apart from unleashing a slew of reforms.

Singh, however, added that this proliferation of domestic LPG cylinders into the commercial activities is a matter of concern and needs to be kept under scanner. The corporation is taking measures wherever required but it cannot act beyond that as policing is not their job, he said, adding, "We are not a policing organisation. That is the job of the government, the civil supplies department and the police."