Bengaluru, 8 April

Karnataka government on Wednesday urged auto drivers, owners, and the public not to pay attention to any rumours regarding the shortage of auto gas in the state.

It stated that some private auto gas supply companies are experiencing a shortage at present. However, to remedy this, the state-owned oil companies are supplying higher quantities of gas to such companies.

This shortage has hit the autorickshaw drivers hard, many of whom had to halt their services for a few days due to the unavailability of auto gas.

"It has been noticed that some media outlets have published false reports that auto owners and drivers are standing in queues in front of auto gas stations in the State, based on rumours that there is a shortage of auto gas," the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Disputes Department said in a statement.

The Karnataka government had earlier said that there was an adequate supply of auto gas with LPG stations run by State-owned oil companies.

To compensate, the public sector gas companies -- IOC, BPCL and HPCL -- have enhanced the supplies to retail outlets, the Department said. Earlier, these three companies supplied 56.67 metric tonnes of auto gas per day, and currently this has increased to 3.58 metric tonnes per day.

"Therefore, it has been advised that auto owners and drivers in the State should not panic by listening to any rumours and cooperate with us," it added.

Karnataka Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs KH Muniyappa on Monday said he would convene a meeting on 10 April, aimed at resolving the Auto LPG supply issue in the State.