The people will bear the hike and cooperate with the Government which is passing through a financial crisis, Gangwar told a news conference here. The LPG price hike will not affect the poor, he added.

Gangwar said the decision to cut subsidy on LPG cylinder was taken by the United Front Government and said the subsidy amount would be brought to zero level by 2002 AD. Stating that the subsidy on cooking gas and kerosene will be brought down by phases, the minister said at present the subsidy forked out by the Government for this two items is Rs 7,500 crore.

Replying to questions, the Minister said the subsidy per LGP cylinder will come down to Rs 60 from Rs 72 before the hike. The number of LPG consumers inthe country now is 4 crore.

The minister announced that out of the 1.5 crore waiting list for LPG cylinders, 35 lakh connections would be cleared by March, 1999. Gangwar said the number of boards for selecting dealers of LPG has been increased to 52 and 100 more places for storing LPG have been identified.

He said that the ministry is planning to open LPG agencies in all the 314 blocks in the state to clear the waiting list of two lakhs. The backlog in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack cities will be cleared on priority basis, he added.

Another bottling plant of 22,000 tonne capacity per annum will be set up at Jharsuguda at a cost of Rs 40 crore by the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). Besides, the ministry also has a proposal to set up a terminal at the Paradip port at a cost of Rs 100 crore for import of LPG.

The minister admitted that several companies which were registered during the tenure of the UF Government for parallel marketing of LPG gas cylinders had defrauded people to the tune of crores of rupees.After coming to power, the BJP-led Government at the Centre has stopped giving clearance to such companies, Gangwar said and added that the companies which had got themselves registered for the purpose have been graded into A, B, C and D. But out of the 100 registered companies there are only 10 companies in the A and B grades. He said action would be taken against guilty officials and the defaulting companies.

Gangwar said Prime Minister Vajpayee will lay the foundation stone of the Rs 11,000 crore oil refinery project at Paradip by March, 1999. To a question, the minister said the Kuwait Petroleum has not withdrawn from the project to be set up in the joint sector by IOC.