LPGAP demands status of major industry

Says current policies have brought marketing companies to brink of disaster

LAHORE: Pakistan’s LPG sector should be treated as a major industry and be given all necessary incentives due to its important role in the country’s economy, LPG Association of Pakistan (LPGAP) members demanded on Tuesday.

Under the chairmanship of Farooq Iftikhar, association members and stakeholders present in the meeting said that the LPG sector is playing the role of an ‘unheralded soldier' of the economy and the masses but is being ignored by the decision makers. Iftikhar said that LPG is not only affordable fuel but also environment friendly, claiming that adoption of LPG as the primary fuel can reduce air pollution by 90% in comparison to traditionally burnt biomass.



“Higher Calorific value makes LPG a cost-competitive and efficient fuel for consumers not connected to the natural gas network,” Iftikhar stated, adding that 1.2 million metric tonnes of LPG is consumed in the country annually by over 10 million households, commercial units and small industries.

Highlighting the massive investments made in LPG infrastructure, Iftikhar lamented that current regulatory policies have brought most of the LPG marketing companies on the verge of closure because of thoughtless bidding for LPG quota, uncontrolled imports, and smuggling of hazardous and low quality LPG.



The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources and Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority were “playing the role of silent spectators,” he said.

“The upstream and downstream sectors of LPG industry employ more than 150,000 workers and contribute more than Rs132 billion to the GDP,” Iftikhar claimed.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2017.

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