Mangalore: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated 4.4 lakh MT Polypropylene plant at ONGC Mangalore Refinery on Sunday.

He addressed a public meeting after the inauguration and highlighted the role of MRPL in the growth of the region as a major industrial hub. Union Minister Pradhan also had a Field Visit of the Refinery with senior officials of ONGC MRPL.

During the occasion, the Union Petroleum Minister has requested the employees of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd and a Karnataka Minister to give up subsidy on LPG cylinder.

He explained that the LPG customer in the country uses 6-7 subsidized LPG cylinders a year, this comes to around Rs 1,500 a year thus we could provide LPG connection to a poor people, who are dependent on other energy sources.

Employees of many corporates, including Tata Group and Kotak Mahindra Bank, and celebrities like Lata Mangeshkar and Ranabir Kapoor have given up their subsidies on LPG cylinder. He sought the same cooperation from the employees of MRPL also.

Pradhan also requested the Karnataka Youth Services Minister, Abhayachandra Jain, who was present on the occasion, to give up subsidy on LPG cylinder. When there was no reply from Jain, he said even the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Ashok Chavan, and the senior Congress leader, Mallikarjuna Kharge, have agreed to give up the subsidies on LPG cylinder.

The Member of Parliament from Mangaluru, Nalin Kumar Kateel; former Karnataka Ministers, Krishna Palemar and Nagaraja Shetty; former Mayor of Mangaluru, Ganesh Hosabettu; gave up subsidy on LPG cylinders on the occasion.