Power Gas Lanka; third player in local market

Hiran H. SENEWIRATNE

Power Gas Lanka (Pvt) Limited with an Australian joint venture company will invest US $ five million to enter the local market as the third player in the Sri Lanka’s LP (liquid Petroleum) gas industry.

Power Gas Lanka (Pvt) Limited, Chairman/ CEO, Joseph Fernando told a media conference they will price a 12.5 Kg domestic gas cylinder Rs 100 less than the lowest player in the market. “The company is expecting a demand for Power Gas with this concessionary pricing despite the current price escalations in the market,” he said.

“The Company will initially focus on the Western Province and will gradually expand to other regions in the country especially in plantation and industrial sectors through bulk supplies. The company is importing LP Gas mainly from Malaysia and other countries which could provide at a competitive price to Sri Lanka”, he said.

He said customers would be able to buy the initial total gas package for around Rs 4,500 which is far below than other offers. “This initiative will definitely cater to the growing demand in the gas market quite effectively,” Fernando said.

The main Gas filling centre of the company is in Warakapola. “Due to problems regarding transportation and administrative concerns, it will shortly set up its filling center with the storage capacity of 3,000 metric tons at Uswetakeiyawa, Wattala, which is a sub urban area,” Fernando said.

Initially, they will run with a storage capacity of 150 tonnes mainly focusing on main towns in the Western Province.

“We will be the lowest priced gas supplier to the market, as the over heads and other expenditure is minimal due to the small staff of 25 people,” he said.

“The Company will start with 20,000 cylinders. We also accept cylinders from non-existing companies like Mundo Gas and E Gas to assist them,” Fernando added.

The Company is planning to appoint dealers and distributors island wide to take the product to customers’ doorstep providing a better service.

Fernando noted that out of Sri Lanka’s total population of 20 million only 2.5 million cylinders are used in the domestic market. “These cylinders are owned by two players in the market, therefore this market has the potential to grow in the business,” he said.

“This being a 100 per cent Sri Lankan company which uses a soft approach to ensure the smooth infrastructure, our strategy is set to provide LP gas at low price,” he said.

Fernando was involved in the Auto Gas business, the conversion of petrol vehicle to Gas since 1995. With all expertise in the field of Gas market, Power Gas Lanka signed a MoU with a Malaysian counterpart recently to bring down gas to the country.