Very soon, a tiny chip will tell the Government whether the gas cylinder you bought is for use at home — or for the restaurant next door.

Because the Petroleum Ministry has asked oil marketing companies (OMCs) to push ahead with pilot projects to implant Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) in domestic cylinders.

In other words, the device, in the form of a chip in your cylinder, will monitor whether gas meant for your kitchen has been diverted for commercial use — hotels, restaurants or automobiles.

“There is an urgent need to check diversion of domestic LPG for unintended use in view of the large subsidy involved,” said ministry officials at a meeting with OMCs last month. The Rs 177-per cylinder subsidy offered by the government and OMCs added up to a burden of Rs 10,700 crore for 2006-07.

Since existing measures to stop diversions had become ineffective, especially due to the LPG Control Order, which allows each individual — rather than a household — to own an LPG connection, it is felt that RFID will help track diverted cylinders to distributors, consumers and even bottling plants.

Apart from information storage retrieval, RFID tags can transmit data on a predetermined frequency to monitor movement of cylinders and prevent pilferage.

A study by the Petroleum Planning & Advisory Cell says LPG coverage in Delhi, Goa, Chandigarh and Puducherry was more than 100 per cent — an indication of a large number of multiple connections. Many of these were under same names and addresses, the report said.