Oil distribution company Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) enjoys nearly 25 per cent market share in the Indian market. The top brass of the company was in Pune to launch the Bharat Arogya Yojana, a dual health insurance and accident cover scheme for economically weaker employees of BPCL’s business partners.

G Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Director, New India Assurance, said it was the first product of its kind developed by his company.

On the sidelines of this initiative, S Vardarajan, CMD, BPCL, and George Paul, Executive Director (LPG), spoke to Business Line on various issues, including the LPG subsidy scheme. Edited excerpts:

Can you bring us up to speed on the LPG cylinder direct benefits transfer scheme?

Implementation began in 54 districts last November and in the remaining 622 districts in the country since January 1, 2015. Of around 15 crore domestic gas customers (across the three companies) in India so far, nine crore have come into the scheme. The national average is 60 per cent while around 64 per cent of our 4.2 crore customers are in the scheme.

Consumers who have not registered for it so far have a grace period of another three months to register – till March 31 and then a three-month “parking period” to avail of the benefits.

After this, if they still haven’t completed the formalities, they will just have to buy domestic cylinders at the market price.

How much has been disbursed so far?

The three oil companies have transferred around ₹3,000 crore into consumers accounts till now. Our share in this will be between ₹600 and ₹700 crore.

The total payout on this account will be between ₹15,000 and ₹20,000 crore, making it the largest direct benefit transfer scheme anywhere.

The model works like this: as soon as the consumer is cash transfer-compliant (CTC), the oil company transfers an advance of ₹568 into the linked bank account. Thereafter the subsidy amount – it will be around ₹350 at current cylinder prices – will be transferred every time the cylinder is delivered.

Is the Aadhar card necessary for this benefit?

In case there is no Aadhar card, the bank account can be registered with the distributor, or the 17-digit unique consumer number should be registered with the bank.

How has your initiative of automating petrol stations across the country progressed?

So far, of the 12,500 stations across the country, around 4,500 have been automated, and we can monitor their operations from Mumbai. In the next two years, we hope to automate all the stations.

This will require investment of approximately ₹300-400 crore. We are also opening 600-800 new outlets every year. And this expansion will continue.

How has BPCL fared on the piped natural gas business?

Through MNGL (Maharashtra Natural Gas Ltd), our joint venture with GAIL, we have operations in four cities – Pune, Delhi, Kanpur and Sabarmati.

We have participated in bidding in another four cities. The Government has planned piped in 80 cities.

Lastly, what are the highlights of the new health initiative you have launched?

The Bharat Arogya Yojana gives personal accident cover of ₹2 lakh to the beneficiary and health insurance to the beneficiary, spouse and two children for hospital expenses of up to ₹1 lakh a year. MDIndia Helathcare Services Pvt Ltd, the third party administrator for the scheme, has tied up with 6,000 hospitals in India to enable cashless hospitalisation.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW