nai, Aug 19 (Inditop.com) With Indian auto makers rolling out cars powered by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the city-based Indian Auto Gas has chalked out plans to expand its gas vending stations, said a top company official here Wednesday.
“In the current year, we will be adding 39 new stations taking the total to 66 and also build 100-tonne gas storage terminals in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh,” said company chief executive S.M. Anthony Thomas.
According to him, the expansion outlay will be Rs.30 crore – to be funded by debt and promoters’ contributions.
Indian Auto Gas sources LPG from importers and also plans to import by the year-end.
“We plan to import 3,000 tonnes in the first shipment. The imported gas is available at Rs.42,000 per tonne, as against the domestically produced gas that is sold at Rs.45,000,” Thomas said.
Present in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, Indian Auto Gas will now enter Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra markets by the end of this year.
“We will add 579 stations by 2012 in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra,” he said.
Thomas said the demand for auto LPG is growing 15 percent annually, and each gas station will break even selling 1,000 tonnes a month.
