Gas

After 45 months on Private gas, I got my first state subsidized gas connection in April. The procedure to get a connection swivels around a document called Ration Card in Bangalore. This card is amongst the hardest to procure and upkeep in India. Passport and Voting ID card being the other two.

I took a longer but arguably simpler route to get the connection from Muzaffarnagar, and transferred it to Bangalore. The transfer was quick, however it still took 4 weeks and five visits to complete the process.

1. Visit 1 – No Confirmation letter. The official rule requires a confirmation letter on top of transfer-challan. This is a hand-written letter from the previous gas agency confirming that you have surrendered the previous one. This took a week to procure.
2. Visit 2 – Saturday – Computers not working, so no work
3. Visit 3 – Monday 9:30 AM – No connections before 10:00 AM
4. Visit 4 – Monday 4:00 PM – No connections after noon.
5. Visit 5 – Saturday 10:30 – 4/18. Final success. Took 45 minutes to complete the formalities and pick the cylinder.

Cost

1. Security – Rs. 1400
2. Cylinder 14.4 kg – Rs. 323 (Private 12kg costs ~Rs. 480, in May 2009)
3. Regulator – Rs. 150
4. Orange Gas Pipe (new, more secure) – Rs. ~200

I had a hard time finding the nearest gas agency. For the convenience of other’s I’ve marked it on my publicly listed map. If you visit places not searchable on Google maps, consider creating a similar public map.

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