HP will need to source more refills from outside

The HPCL already has a backlog of three months in the supply of cylinders in the state and will face more difficulty in procuring refills following Thursday’s fire at the Cherlapally unit which has rendered it non-functional.

Customers are not affected by the backlog as the local HPCL unit gets refills from other units. The LPG refilling carousel at the Cherlapally plant used to refill 98,000 cylinders per day, which had fallen to 58,800 in the last three months due to frequent repairs, causing the backlog before Thursday’s fire mishap.

In view of the heavy demand for the Dasara festival, plant managers had increased the number of shifts from two to three a day.

HPCL's state level coordinator Ch. Srinivas said the corporation was managing backlogs by procuring cylinders from other plants for the convenience of customers.

Federation of LPG Dealers of India president P.V. Rao noted that the HPCL Hyderabad regional office said the backlogs may increase as the licence of the unit has been revoked.

Cherlapally HPCL plant manager Ch. Srinivasa Rao said the Chandrapur unit in Maharashtra and Raipur plant in Chhattisgarh would supply cylinders to undivided Adilabad, Nizamabad and Karimnagar districts.

The Kondapally unit in Andhra Pradesh will supply consumers in Nalgonda, Khammam and Warangal districts. The HPLC units at Karnataka and Anantapur will supply refills to Mahbubnagar, Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and other districts.

This will continue till the HPCL Cherlapally unit gets its new carousel with filling capacity of 72 cylinders per minute.