Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitrak (RGGLV) was launched on October 16, 2009. The plan aims to set up small LPG sales agencies to increase rural penetration and cover remote areas with low potential (sites with a potential of 600 bottles (refill sales) per month). The program is currently being rolled out in all states of the country.
Features
Some of the salient features of Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitran are as follows:
- Agencies under the RGGLV will be small and require less funding/infrastructure. These agencies would be profitable with monthly top-up sales of 600 versus 2,500 today.
- The agencies would go deeper into rural areas where the scale of operations and investments make regular distributors unprofitable. RGGLV dealers can be profitable for approximately 1,500 customers in the served group of cities.
- These agencies are self-managed: the distributor herself manages the agency with the help of her family member and one or two employees.
- No home delivery arrangements will be made.
- The age limit for the distributor remains between 21 and 45, creating new employment opportunities for rural youth.
- The dealer under the program must have permanent residence in the village(s) covered by the respective location.
- Under this scheme, all agencies share the husband and wife names. For single applicants, a partnership will be obtained, which the “spouse” will automatically consider as a “partner” after marriage. This will be a step towards empowering rural women.
- The projected capital expenditure for the establishment of a new RGGLV distribution will be approximately Rs. 21 lakh with a 20 x 24-meter plot owned by the candidate being the essential requirement.
- The distributor will be able to recoup the capital expenditure when 1,800 new LPG connections are released. The distributor’s indicative net income would be approximately Rs 7,500 per month.
- An important feature of the plan is that there are no interviews, and distribution partners are selected by lottery among all candidates who have achieved more than 80% scores in the financial capacity and educational qualifications criteria.
- 25% of the places would be reserved for the categories SC/ST in the respective states. The 25% reserve for the Defense Personnel/Paramilitary Personnel/Physically Disabled/Outstanding Athlete categories would be placed in a common category. If no candidate is found in the general category, the ad would appear in the open category next time.
Eligibility criteria
The eligibility criteria for applicants under all categories are listed below:
- You must be an Indian citizen.
- You must also be a Gram Panchayat or Taluka/Tehsil resident at the advertised RGGLV location.
- have passed at least the Xth standard test of a recognized body (does not apply to category “FF”).
- Age between 21 and 45 years (except category ‘FF’ and ‘GP’ and SKO Dealer from OMC).
- The applicant must comply with the multiple sales/sales standards (except SKO distributors and NDNE dealers of OMCs)
- The applicant must have a minimum cumulative balance of Rs 4 lakhs in the final balance for themselves or the family members of the “Family Unit” as of the last application date. In the case of reserved seats in the “SC/ST” category, this amount should be Rs.2 lakhs.
The applicant or “Family Unit” family members/parents/grandparents must own a plot of land with the minimum dimensions of 21m x 26m for the construction of an LPG godown for the storage of 5000 kg LPG cylinders or a preparation storage tank for LPG cylinders of at least 5000 kg. Capacity at the RGGLV site was annou