Bulk LPG transporters claim latest tenders favour large operators
The All India Bulk LPG Transporters Federation has approached Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri claiming that the tender for ferrying bulk LPG doesn’t have the “expertise” clause, which is important for transporting hazardous supplies comparable to cooking gasoline.
The problem pertains to the tender for bulk transport of LPG that’s floated by oil firms—Indian Oil Company (IoCL), Bharat Petroleum Company (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Company (HPCL)—as soon as each 5 years.
The present settlement interval ends on August 31, 2025. The tanker operators are protesting towards the most recent tender, which was issued on March 1, 2025.
In a letter to Puri on Thursday, All India Bulk LPG Transporters Federation President Khushwant Singh mentioned “A key subject that continues to be unaddressed within the corrigendum is the absence of an expertise clause, which is especially important within the transportation of hazardous supplies like LPG.”
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These tankers ferry liquefied petroleum gasoline (LPG) from oil refineries to bottling vegetation.
To spotlight this, Singh referred to the just lately printed tender for propylene transportation by IoCL, the place a pre-qualification clause for “Comparable Nature of Job” was included. This clause specified that bidders should have expertise in transporting pressurised hydrocarbon tank vans, comparable to LPG, Butene, Propylene, and Butadiene.
“Surprisingly, no such pre-qualification standards have been included within the LPG tender 2025-30, regardless of the substantial scale of the tender and the dangers related to transporting LPG. Even the tragic Jaipur incident has not prompted the tender coordination committee (TCC) or the oil trade to think about the general public security implications extra significantly,” he added.
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In December 2024, an LPG tanker caught hearth after an accident on the Jaipur-Ajmer freeway resulting in a number of casualties.
“Transporters throughout the nation share related grievances, with many contemplating withdrawing from operations because the tender course of appears rigged in favour of enormous fleet operators,” the trade physique claimed.
Massive fleet operators
After the tender was floated, tanker homeowners raised their points in pre-bid conferences following which a corrigendum was issued. Nevertheless, the trade physique claims that their issues haven’t been addressed.
“It’s evident that the connection between oil trade officers and enormous fleet operators has grown too near the purpose the place the pre-qualification standards (PQC) are being tailor-made to learn solely a choose few, massive fleet operators,” Singh claimed.
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That is evident within the current propylene transportation tender, which included restrictive clauses just like the possession requirement for tank vans, guaranteeing that solely massive operators may bid. Equally, the LPG tender 2025-30 appears to have been drafted in a approach that favours massive fleet homeowners and creates boundaries for smaller operators, resulting in an unfair benefit for the chosen few, he added.
“Because it stands, each bulk LPG transporter within the trade is deeply aggrieved by the printed 2025-30 tender and the shortage of response from the TCC and trade officers. Associations within the southern and northeastern areas have already introduced a halt to operations efficient March 27, 2025 because of the trade’s failure to handle their issues,” Singh mentioned.
The Southern Regional Bulk LPG House owners’ Affiliation started an indefinite strike on Thursday throughout Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Puducherry, with greater than 5,500 LPG tanker lorries having gone off the street.
“We as soon as once more urge your intervention to name for a gathering with the Govt Administrators of the three oil firms and request the rollback of the printed 2025-30 tender till the proposed KGPL pipeline is commissioned,” the trade physique urged the Minister.
