South Indian LPG transporters call of stir

Bringing relief to households in southern India harried by a shortage of cooking gas, the association of LPG tanker owners for the region called off its strike on Thursday ahead of negotiations with oil companies.

The Southern Region Bulk LPG Transport Operators Association had called the strike on 29 February demanding higher transportation charges and the induction of 552 new tankers.

S P Vij, president of Karnataka region of the association, said the strike was called off so that the people are not put to inconvenience.

Association secretary N R Karthik said, ''Though the second round of talks with oil marketing companies was not fruitful, we called off the strike early on Thursday because we did not want consumers to suffer the consequences of our strike.''

However, another strike by the transporters of liquefied petroleum gas is possible if the talks between them and the oil retailers fail, the association has warned.

The tanker owners are irate because apart from refusing to pay more, the state-owned oil companies have also been refusing to induct extra tankers, saying they are not required.