The flurry of activities in the sector is also fuelled by reports that the central government will also permit allow public sector oil companies to vend LPG as fuel for automobile owners. Following this, the Ambanis'-owned Reliance Petroleum Ltd is planning to make a major foray by next year, sources said. Besides other major players from the private sector are:

Chennai-based Southern Petrochemicals (Spic) and Delhi-based Mobil Peevees.According to market sources, Reliance may tie up with the Rutu Gas of Ahmedabad, which pioneered the gas car technology sourced from Italy in the country for setting up the venture.

Besides Reliance Petroleum, Mobil-Peevees, a joint venture between the global major Mobil Corporation of the US and thePeevees Petroleum of Kerala has made it public about their plans to set up five more LPG bottling units with a capacity of 1,500 tonnes each in the southern states; two in Kerala, one each in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The company at present has a bottling unit in Namakkal in Tamil Nadu. Mobil, which used to be a major player in the LPG supply to automobiles recently withdrew from the market following its inability to meet the requirement from other sectors.

Market sources said Reliance Petroleum Ltd, Asia's largest private sector refinery, is waiting to take a plunge in the booming LPG fuel market by setting up a string of direct filling stations in metros and major cities throughout the country.

If the scheme goes as scheduled, the petroleum major will set up at least 15 such outlets in the metros and major cities in the state. Top on the agenda of Reliance is the Kerala market which pioneered the technology of LPG-fuelled automobiles in the country. This is for the firsttime that any petroleum company is venturing to set up direct LPG fulling stations for automobiles. The new state-of-the-art technology is expected to go a long way in changing the LPG-fuelled car market in the country. "Unlike the CNG filling stations now operational in Mumbai, the LPG station is launched on a different technology platform that ensures speedy filling and safety", sources said. They said, the new technology includes a separate LPG tank in automobiles with multiple valves to ensure safety and the alternate fuel uses.

The direct filling stations will help the automobile users to fill their LPG tanks like petrol without any delay, sources added. With demand from car users rising steadily, the gas is now in vogue in southern states and demand is picking up along the western region too, private gas manufacturers are now seeing the potential market for LPG, automobile dealers in Kochi say.

The spurt in demand for LPG, as an alternative automobile fuel to petrol, is largely due to the costfactor besides the fuel easily adapts to the new entrants of world class cars that use only green fuel.