The ministry of economic affairs is assessing the demand trend of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the country to see whether there is a need to increase the annual quota import from India. "If there's a need to increase the quota, it will be done,' said a trade official. "At the moment, we're still compiling figures to assess demand in all the regions.' Bhutan lifts 500 metric tones (MT) of LPG from India every month as a subsidy item. Of the total, 140 MT is lifted from Bongaigaon, Assam, for Gelephu and Samdrupjongkhar regions. The rest, from Raninagar near Siliguri, goes to the western dzongkhags. The quota was lifted to 500 MT from 300 MT in 2001 to meet a growing demand for cooking gas. The Bhutan oil distributors (BOD), the largest of the three LPG suppliers, lifts 406 MT a month and distributes it nationwide through a network of outlets. Damchen agency lifts 21 MT and Druk petroleum lifts 73 MT a month. A BOD official said that, while 500 MT was enough for the country, sometimes it was not possible to lift the entire amount because it was not available from the suppliers. "That's when we experience a bit of shortage,' he said. Presently, Thimphu BOD is getting a truckload of 231 cylinders every day, which gets exhausted within two hours of arrival. "Almost 50 percent of the arrival has to be sent to other neighbouring dzongkhags.' A refilled cylinder in Thimphu costs Nu 357.60. By Tashi Dendup