Ranchi, March 16 Jharkhand Finance Minister Radhakrishna Kishore said in the assembly on Monday that the state is facing a shortage of both domestic and commercial LPG, which is likely to affect household kitchens as well as businesses such as hotels, canteens, and restaurants, resulting in a loss of GST revenue to the state exchequer.
Responding to a question, he said that problems have arisen in the delivery of domestic and commercial gas in the state.
"The refill booking interval for domestic LPG has been increased to 25 days from 15 days for urban consumers, while the same for rural consumers has been increased to 45 days. As of March 16, the number of pending refills for gas supplied by IOCL, HPCL, and BPCL stands at 3.27 lakh," Kishore, who is also the parliamentary affairs minister, informed the House.
He said earlier delivery was done within 48 hours of booking, which has now been extended to three to four days for domestic consumers.
"The government cannot deny that the ongoing war involving the US, Israel, and Iran is already having negative repercussions on the LPG situation in Jharkhand, and these effects are likely to intensify in the days ahead," he added.
Kishore said that during a meeting with state officials on March 14, oil company officials stated that Jharkhand's commercial gas cylinder requirement is 2,273.11 metric tonnes per month.
As per a recent direction from the Centre, 80 per cent of the total commercial gas requirement has been slashed, Kishore said, quoting the oil companies.
"This means, Jharkhand will receive a supply of only 454.6 metric tonnes of commercial gas a month against its total requirement of 2,273.11 metric tonnes. There will be a gap of 1,818.51 metric tonnes," he said.
The shortage will largely impact industrial towns such as Dhanbad, Ranchi, Bokaro, Jamshedpur, and others, where canteen, hotel, and restaurant services will be affected.
"This is a major concern. The effect on hotels and restaurants will finally impact the state exchequer. The state's GST revenue earned through these businesses will reduce," Kishore added.