LPG Price Hiked by Rs 50, Rates Up by Rs 244 in One Year

Cooking gas, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), price on Wednesday, 6 July, was hiked by Rs 50 per cylinder, the third increase in rates since May on firming international energy prices.

Non-subsidised LPG now costs Rs 1,053 per 14.2-kg cylinder in the national capital, up from Rs 1,003 previously, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.

Common households pay non-subsidised rates for the cooking gas they buy, after the government restricted subsidies to just poor beneficiaries who got connections under the Ujjwala scheme.

This is the third increase in the LPG rate since May and the fourth this year.

The price was hiked by Rs 50 per cylinder on 22 March and again by the same quantum on 7 May. Rates went up by Rs 3.50 per cylinder on May 19.

Prices have gone up by Rs 244 per cylinder since June 2021. Of this, Rs 153.50 increase happened since March 2022.

Petrol and diesel prices, however, continue to be on freeze for the third straight month. The pause followed rates being hiked by a record Rs 10 per litre in a matter of 16 days beginning 22 March.

In May, the government cut excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre and diesel by Rs 6 per litre to cool soaring inflation.

At that time, the government also stated that Rs 200 per cylinder subsidy on cooking gas will be limited to only 9 crore poor women and other beneficiaries who got free connections under the Ujjwala scheme and the remaining users including households will pay the market price (also known as non-subsidised rate).

Originally, non-subsidised cooking gas was the one that consumers used to buy after exhausting their quota of 12 cylinders at subsidised or below-market rates. However, the government stopped paying subsidies on LPG to households in mid-2020.

Non-subsidised LPG costs Rs 1,052.50 per 14.2-kg cylinder in Mumbai, while it is priced at Rs 1,079 a bottle in Chennai and Rs 1,068.50 in Kolkata.

Rates differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as Value Added Tax (VAT). Prices are higher in states with higher taxes.