In a few months, a new lighter, colourful and easy-to-use LPG gas cylinder will soon make its way into your kitchen. Designed with several safety measures, state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) is set to launch new fibre-made composite cylinders with capacities of 2 kg, 5 kg and 10 kg of cooking gas, which would be much safer and lighter than the metallic cylinders in use. Current steel made cylinders carry a net 14.2 kg of gas.

To get these new cylinders, the consumers will have to return old cylinders and bear some extra cost, estimated to be around Rs 1,000.

After years of dithering, HPCL received approval from the ministry of petroleum and natural gas to launch the fibre-made bottles, which will ensure fire safety as they do not explode even when engulfed by fire due to the fibreglass technology.

The Mumbai -headquartered oil marketing company started delivery of new cylinders through a pilot project in Pune and Ahmedabad. Now it will be rolled out Pan India.

The cylinders would be corrosion proof, UV protected and translucent in nature, which will allow customers to see the amount of LPG in the cylinders. The more striking feature of the new cylinders will be its increased safety features that will ensure lesser number of cylinder mishaps.

The improved cylinders, which would weigh half the existing cylinders, would cost double that of the steel cylinders currently in use.

The proposed composite cylinders is a part of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) initiative as the government aims to improve the quality of service to cooking gas consumers. Under the PMUY, the government aims to provide gas connections to 10 crore households who are still deprived of LPG as cooking fuel and have to rely on firewood, coal, dung - cakes etc. So far, the government has distributed 6 crore free cooking gas (LPG) connection under the scheme. 

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar