The government has convened a meeting of the LPG importers and distributors on January 10 to remove disparities in prices of local and imported liquefied petroleum gas. Sources said that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, after a meeting with the delegation of LPG importers on Thursday, directed Ministry of Petroleum for holding a meeting with all the stakeholders to resolve disparity in LPG prices. A delegation of LPG importers met with Abbasi and told him of disparity in prices of locally produced and imported LPG and its rates in different cities.
Chairman LPG Distributors Association Irfan Khokhar told Business Recorder that an additional secretary of Ministry of Petroleum will hold a meeting with the LPG importers and distributors. He further stated that the association has called off strike call of January 10, 2018. Khokhar further stated that there is a huge difference between the prices of locally produced LPG gas and imported one and local gas is being sold at the rate of imported gas. He said a few people are exploiting the situation and minting millions of rupees from the consumers.
He said the government fixed LPG base price at Rs 63 per kg for the month of January 2018 exclusive of excise duty, taxes and levies for the OGDCL fields. However, for JV non-operated fields, base price announced by operators would be charged to buyers. While the price of imported gas is Rs 95 per kg against Rs 65 for locally produced LPG, said Khokhar while adding the government was requested to impose levy to rationalize the price.
The association maintained that the government's decision to impose regulatory duty on import of LPG as well as depreciation of rupee against dollar further increased imported LPG price. Now the local LPG is being sold at rate of imported LPG with considerable increase in LPG price across the country. The LPG price was claimed to be at Rs 250 per kg in Murree and Rs 150 in Rawalpindi.
This was the background that necessitated a delegation of LPG importers to request a meeting with the Prime Minister with the objective to apprise him of the disparity in the prices of imported and locally produced LPG and the price at which it was being sold in various cities. After listening to the issues faced by the LPG importers, the Prime Minister directed Ministry of Petroleum to take effective measures, in consultation with all stakeholders, for removing disparities and rationalization of the price of LPG for the benefit of the consumers.