E-Paper
Cooking gas prices up by ₹50 per cylinder, commercial LPG rate slashed
The price of domestic LPG -- used by over 305 million households for cooking -- on Wednesday increased from ₹1,003 per 14.2 kg cylinder in Delhi
Indian households using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for cooking have to pay ₹50 more for a 14.2 kg cylinder as state-run firms raised its price to ₹1,053 per refill in New Delhi from Wednesday even as the rate of commercial LPG has been slashed by ₹206.50 per 19 kg cylinder.
The price of domestic LPG -- used by over 305 million households for cooking -- on Wednesday jumped from ₹1,003 per 14.2 kg cylinder in Delhi after remaining the same for almost one-and-a-half months.
Prices of cooking gas vary across the country based on local levies and transportation costs. Its cost in Kolkata is now ₹1,079 per 14.2 kg cylinder, ₹1,052.50 in Mumbai, and ₹1,068.50 in Chennai.
The state-run LPG suppliers have reduced prices of the fuel used for commercial purposes (19 kg cylinder) twice this month – first, by ₹198 per refill on July 1, and then by ₹8.5 per cylinder on July 6. The commercial cylinders are used in hotels, restaurants and for industrial applications.
The petroleum ministry, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd did not respond to an email seeking reasons for raising domestic LPG prices, but reducing prices of commercial LPG.
India’s cooking gas market is dominated by the three state-run energy firms. IOC rates are treated as the industry benchmark.
Although cooking gas (domestic LPG) rates have crossed the ₹1,000 per cylinder mark, this is not the peak rate of the fuel. In January 2014, it was ₹1,241 per cylinder in Delhi. The rates remained volatile after January 2014. Since May 1, 2020 (at ₹581.5 per cylinder), the prices only moved up barring a ₹10 per cylinder price reduction in April 2021, according to official data.
LPG is the key fuel for Indian households. According to the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), the data keeper of the petroleum ministry, the three state-run firms together have 305.3 million active LPG customers in the domestic category being served by 25,269 LPG distributors. Besides, 7.75 million domestic consumers also use piped natural gas (PNG).
India’s total LPG coverage was around 99.8% as on April 1, 2021, according to PPAC. The LPG coverage is calculated by state-run firms based upon the active LPG domestic connections and the estimated number of households. The number of households has been projected by companies based on 2011 census data.
