New Delhi, Jan. 25: After the makeover, it will be 8kg lighter, will live 16 years longer and will sport a stainless steel glint.

The good old dull-red gas cylinder tucked away in one corner of your kitchen is in line for an image change, and if oil companies have their way, its phase-out may begin by year-end.

No longer will you have to lug a 15-kg cylinder — made of mild steel, which is a mix of steel and other metals — all the way up the stairs.

The new cylinders will be made of stainless steel and will weigh less than 7kg. They will last for some 30 years, compared to 14 years now, and be corrosion-proof.

Only, you will have to shell out a heftier security deposit: against Rs 1000 for the existing ones, you might have to pay Rs 800 more.

Companies like Indian Oil Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation are believed to be very keen to ring in the change and have apparently begun talks with steel firms. But the petroleum ministry has yet to flash the green signal.

“The ministry is in favour of the proposal. We are just waiting for approval from the Bureau of Indian Standards,” a petroleum ministry official said.

The ministry has already given the companies the nod to try out “alternative material” for the cylinders, he said. “But we are waiting to give the final nod as we want to ensure there is enough supply.”

If things go according to plan, the test marketing of the new cylinders will begin by June.