IOC launches 450-kg jumbo LPG cylinder in Coimbatore

Coimbatore, July 3

Indian Oil Corporation on Monday launched 450-kg Indane Jumbo LPG cylinder in the Indian market.

Indane Jumbo called the "Mini-Bulk" is available in minimum footprint size with a flow rate of up to 2,000 kg/hour and does not require licence to use.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the launch, Indian Oil Executive Director - Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, R Sitharthan said Coimbatore, being a very industrialised city, was the best place to introduce the product in India.

"With this launch we expect to meet the need of industries where space is a constraint and constant changeover is not possible." he said.

Despite its size, "Jumbo" is easy to handle and can be installed quickly, as ease of operation was one of the primary things that were kept in mind when it was conceptualised, apart from meeting the high flow rate requirement, he said.

Being the most profitable PSU in India and ranked 161st in Fortune 500 Global List, with a revenue of 54.7 billion US Dollars, IOC is handling 11 out of 23 refineries in India and 12,848 kms of pipelines across the country, he said.

Launched in 1970, Indane is delivered to the doorsteps of over 9.8 crore households and sales crossed 10 million metric tonnes (MMT) after registering 10 per cent year-on-year growth during 2016-17, he said.

Indane is now available in compact 5 kg cylinders for rural, hilly and inaccessible areas, 14.2 kg cylinders for domestic use, and 19 kg and 47.5 kg and 450 kg for commercial and industrial use, Sitharthan said.

With 91 bottling plants in upcountry locations with state-of-the-art safety features, two million cylinders are rolled out a day, making the company the second largest marketer of LPG hlobally, after SHV Gas of the Netherlands, he said.

The company has released an all-tie high 1.5 crore LPG connections (PMUY + non-PMUY) during 2016-17 against 1.03 crore during the last financial year, he said.

Sitharthan said that as of today, a total of 44,43,637 customers had joined the "give it up" campaign resulting into savings of Rs. 1,759.68 crores. — PTI