(ET)
The government has set up an expert panel to consider allowing private firms to sell subsidized cooking gas — a long-standing demand for companies like Reliance Industries because state firms dominate the market by luring customers with a lot of subsidies.
Reliance Industries, which runs the world’s biggest refinery at Jamnagar, is a big producer of LPG and has been lobbying the government for years to permit private players to distribute subsidized cylinders. State oil firms sell cylinders to customers at market price but buyers are soon paid the subsidy in their bank accounts, which makes the fuel effectively much cheaper than what is sold by private companies.
The oil ministry has set up a panel comprising five members including economist Kirit Parikh, former petroleum secretary GC Chaturvedi, former Indian Oil chairman MA Pathan, IIM Ahmedabad director Errol D’souza, and a joint secretary in the petroleum ministry. The panel has to submit report by July-end.
