Lok Sabha Question No. 1899 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-14
Subject: Better Management of Gas Cylinders
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: Dayanidhi Maran

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. - 1899 TO BE ANSWERED ON 14 th  DECEMBER, 2023

## Better Management of Gas Cylinders

## 1899.   SHRI DAYANIDHI MARAN:

पेोिलयम एवं ाक ृ ितक गैस मं ी

Will the Minister of PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS  be pleased to state:

(a) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to combat issues of pilferage, tracking and tracing and better inventory management of gas cylinders;

(b) whether QR codes and RFID technology is being used for supply-chain management along with the ways in which the said technology is being used;

- (c) if so, the outcomes/goals of the said exercise;
- (d)  the  details  of  various  technologies  or  solutions  identified,  attempted or  studied during the  last five years  and  the  current  year  for  better  asset  management,  supply-chain  management,  curbing  pilferage, transparent and effective disbursal of subsidies;
- (e)  whether  the  Government  has  held  any  consultations  or  explored  proof-of-concepts  during  the  said period, if so, the details thereof and the steps taken to follow through on these projects;
- (f)  whether  the  Government  has a  white  paper on  technologies  explored for  accountability  of  cylinder management and disbursal of subsidies; and

(g) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## पेोिलयम एवं ाक ृ ितक गैस मं ालय म रायमंी ( ी रामेर तेली ) MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS (SHRI RAMESWAR TELI)

(a)  to  (g):  Domestic  LPG  cylinders  are  procured  and  maintained  by  Public  Sector  Oil  Marketing Companies (OMCs). The cylinders are loaned to the customers against Security Deposit paid by them. Based on the projected demand and optimization of operations, the entire supply chain and inventory of cylinders is managed by OMCs with an objective of bringing in efficiency in LPG distribution system. Several  steps  have  been  taken  by  OMCs to  prevent  pilferage/supply  of  underweight  cylinders  to  LPG consumers, which inter-alia include, random weight checking of filled cylinders at bottling plant, sealing of  cylinders  with  Tamper  Evident  Seal,  Statistical  Quality  Control  on  10  %  cylinders  received  from bottling plant, pre-delivery checks of cylinders, carrying portable weighing scales by delivery persons, random  checks  by  OMC  officials  at  go-down/delivery  points/en-route,  organizing  public  awareness campaigns etc.

Barcodes,  QR  codes  and  RFID  tags  are  amongst  the  key  available  technologies  used  for  product identification,  inventory  management,  sales  tracking,  package  tracking,  sorting  and  quality  control applications in supply chain management. In case of LPG industry, the OMCs have taken up the pilot studies of QR code tagging to the LPG cylinders for identification/tracking/tracing of the LPG cylinders.

OMCs continuously strive to adopt the latest technology whether in the form of software implementation / upgradation or automation of processes. In case of cylinder management, the QR code-based 'Track & Trace' has been identified as one of the solutions. In order to obtain 'Proof of Concept' for the QR code based system, OMCs have held consultations with various premier technical institutes, testing agencies and have obtained opinion of subject matter experts on the aspect of scanning of QR code through mobile handsets and QR code scanners.

A  pilot  study  for  QR  code  tagging  of  cylinders  has  been  undertaken  by  Indian  Oil  Corporation  Ltd. (IOCL) at Madanpur Khadar Bottling Plant, Delhi for filling of QR coded LPG cylinders and dispatch to two distributors of Delhi Market. This initiative has been taken up with an objective to resolve issues of pilferage, tracking and tracing and better inventory management of gas cylinders. IOCL has dispatched 1,95,153 QR tagged 14.2 Kg LPG cylinders to these two distributors till 07.12.2023.

For  transparent  and  effective  disbursal  of  subsidy,  Direct  Benefit  Transfer  of  LPG  (DBTL)  has  been implemented since January 2015. Under DBTL, LPG cylinders are sold at non-subsidised price and the applicable subsidy to LPG consumers is transferred directly into the bank account of the consumers. The subsidy  is  transferred  either  through Aadhaar  Transfer  Compliant  (ATC)  or  Bank  Transfer  Compliant (BTC) mode. From August 2021, subsidy payments for DBTL are being administered through the Public Financial  Management System (PFMS). PFMS facilitates sound Public Financial Management System for  Government  of  India  by  establishing  an  efficient  fund  flow  system  as  well  as  a  payment  cum accounting network. PFMS provides real time, reliable and meaningful management information system and an effective decision support system, as part of the Digital India initiative of Government of India.

DBTL  has  helped  in  identifying  'ghost'  accounts,  multiple  accounts  and  inactive  accounts.  This  has helped  in  curbing  diversion  of  subsidised  LPG  for  commercial  purposes.  More  than  4  crore  domestic LPG connections have been blocked due to inactive or duplicate connections. Also, more than 1.1 crore LPG consumers have given up their subsidy under 'GiveItUp' campaign across the country.

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