Reliance auto LPG filling station was opened here on Wednesday at a petrol bunk opposite the Naval Scientific and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) at the NAD Junction. It is operated by the franchisee, Barfani Petroleum Products Ltd.
At a press meet on the occasion, Mr Raghu, managing partner of Barfani, said there were six such LPG outlets in the city, both by PSU oil companies and private companies. “It is estimated that there are 7,570 four-wheelers in the city at present running on auto LPG. Their number will increase as more people switch over to LPG. It will be sold at Rs 40.37/litre.
It will reduce the fuel cost by 40 per cent, and it is much cheaper and safer. It will also make for cleaner environment,” he said.
The auto LPG will be received from Reliance's Patalaganga plant from Mumbai by road. He said the conversion cost for a petrol vehicle would be around Rs 20,000-22,000. He requested vehicle owners to use only standard gas conversion kits. He said auto LPG was perfectly safe, but the practice of using cheap gas conversion kits and illegal use of cooking gas cylinders for vehicles were causing many accidents. They could be easily avoided, if the vehicle owners stuck to the rules, he said.
He said there were in Andhra Pradesh seven Reliance auto LPG stations and one more would be opened at Rajahmundry soon. There would be assured gas availability from Reliance, he said. The other partners, Mr W. Bhaskara Rao and Mr W. Papa Rao, also spoke.