The Hindu Business Line : Apartments with piped gas supply

Investment World - Real Estate & Construction
Industry & Economy - Real Estate & Construction
States - Tamil Nadu
Apartments with piped gas supply

Developers are finding growing acceptance for this concept in Coimbatore.

— K. Ananthan

End to waiting for cooking gas?

R. Yegya Narayanan

For harried housewives who dread the prospect of their cooking gas cylinders running dry on festival days such as Diwali, what could be more reassuring than the convenience of an uninterrupted supply of LPG at the turn of a knob? ?

Though piped gas supply may be in vogue in cities such as Mumbai for long, in Coimbatore this is a new phenomenon that is gathering momentum in recent years.

As living in apartments is becoming an accepted option in the city, prominent builders are finding the provision of piped gas supply a sales USP and see the prospective buyers also insisting on it before finalising the purchase deals.

tier-two cities

Mr C.S. Ramaswamy, Managing Director, Sreevatsa Real Estates (P) Ltd, Coimbatore, said piped gas supply, which was largely a metro phenomenon, is now spreading to tier-two cities.

He said his company began offering this facility in the apartments constructed by it in 2002 when petroleum companies started providing the ‘reticulated piped LPG system’ for apartments. The oil companies want an exclusive space for the gas cylinders from where the cooking gas is delivered to the kitchens through separate pipes.

Individual meters are provided for every connection to measure the quantity of gas consumed and for billing.

He said the companies provide the usual domestic cylinders of 14.5 kg capacity to the gas bank.

The gas company gives the monthly bill to the residents’ associations that, in turn, collected the charges from each user depending on the actual consumption.

Explaining the convenience of this facility, Mr Ramaswamy said the customers are spared the hassle of booking the LPG cylinder and waiting for its delivery.

Safety concerns

Since each apartment was connected through individual pipes, the safety of supply was ensured and there would be no doubts about the actual gas consumption since the metering was accurate.

The consumers have found that for the money they pay, the supply lasts longer than it did during the days of the individual cylinder. In the past six years his company has not received any customer complaint.

He said his company has provided this facility in more than 300 apartments and will provide it in a 280-apartment complex it is building in Tudialur, one of the largest residential complexes in Coimbatore.

Now most of the prominent builders are offering this facility in Coimbatore. He said this facility is now restricted to apartment complexes and has not been extended to individual houses in gated communities due to safety reasons as the pipelines would have to be laid along the roads, and run the risk of damage resulting from any digging work.

Mr S. Lakshmi Narayanan, Senior Area Manager, IOC, Coimbatore, said the piped gas supply has been provided in about 15 apartment complexes in the city, , that is about 600-800 connections and 600-800 more are being provided.

Two gas banks

He said the apartment complexes were provided with two gas banks with the number of cylinders in each gas bank depending on the number of connections. While customers would be supplied gas from one gas bank, the other would be kept as a stand-by.

Once one gas bank runs out , the system would automatically switch to the stand-by and an alarm would signal that the gas bank is empty. This would alert the residential complex staff to book refills. There are in-built safety precautions to switch off supply in case of leakage.

Mr Lakshmi Narayanan said piped gas supply is being offered in the new complexes coming up. This could be provided in existing apartments also for which the residents should come forward. In apartments where piped gas is given, the residents would have to surrender their individual LPG connections for safe custody by IOC. This would be restored to the members when they move out of these complexes or the city.