The State has launched the search for suppliers of the six-kilogramme cooking gas cylinders and their accessories in the clearest signal of its resolve to wean poor households of dirty fuel.
The Petroleum and Mining Ministry says suppliers of empty cylinders and fittings under the Sh12.2 million tender may be local or international firms which clinch the tender that closes on March 4.
Low pressure
In the initial phase of the gas project, the State seeks to acquire 100,000 new empty 6kg-Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) domestic cylinders fitted with domestic valves, and supplied at a cost of Sh5 million.
The order will also come with 80,000 new two-burner low pressure tabletop cookers at a cost of Sh4.8 million, state the tender documents.
Metering service and technical support for dispensing LPG from 6kg LPG cylinders fitted with camping valves will also be required to be supplied at a cost of Sh2.4 million.
A supplier for new 1.5 metre long LPG flex horse pipes for domestic use will be required, the tender documents state without indicating the price.
The tender represents just a small part of the State’s mass cooking gas for households project. Under the Sh3 billion plan, dubbed the Mwananchi Gas Project, the households were to receive 6kg cooking gas cylinders and burners at a discounted price of Sh2, 000.
The market price for the 6kg gas cylinder with cooking accessories is about Sh5,000.
An internal report prepared by Nock, the State oil marketer in 2018, shows it rejected 67,251 cylinders supplied by four local firms out of a total of 353,000 that were supplied, citing poor quality.
The tender in the first phase of the gas plan was valued at over Sh700 million.
The cheaper cooking gas plan is aimed at entrenching use of the commodity among low-income households.
The subsidy plan is aimed at cutting reliance on kerosene and charcoal, which are not environment-friendly.
Under the plan, which had already been piloted in Machakos and Kajiado counties, the Ministry of Energy is expected to buy about one million new cylinders for distribution.
