LPG Mafia Era Is Over: PM Shehbaz - ProPakistani

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has declared the end of the LPG mafia, saying the groups that made billions of rupees from the trade for decades no longer control it.

“The era of the mafia is over,” the PM said while chairing the federal cabinet meeting on Wednesday, according to a video shared by the Government of Pakistan. He said LPG imports and supply would now be handled with competition and transparency, with state-owned companies such as PSO and PARCO bringing in the fuel.

He added that the first auction of locally produced LPG will be held next week under camera supervision, while importing companies will post their landed costs on their websites.

Under the new LPG policy approved by the cabinet, four state-owned firms, PSO, Pakistan LNG, SSGC-LPG and PARCO-LPG, will resume imports through government-to-government and business-to-business deals. They have received supply offers from Saudi Arabia and Oman.

The discretionary quota system, which benefited influential groups, is being abolished. Local producers will sell LPG through open auctions in lots of five to 10 tonnes, monitored by OGRA and the Petroleum Division.

The base price will be linked to Saudi Aramco’s monthly contract price, and OGRA will stop issuing LPG price notifications.

The PM said the profit from the auctions will go to the national treasury and be used to subsidise LPG for ordinary people. Under the policy, that money goes into a fund for BISP-eligible households.

The change comes after cylinder prices shot up to as much as Rs. 7,200 in the open market, more than double OGRA’s notified rate of Rs. 3,296. If the auctions and imports increase supply, the gap between official and market prices should narrow.

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