LPG cylinder price hiked by over 40% since July 2020, Center tells Rajya Sabha

Central government data tabled in the Rajya Sabha shows that the retail sale price of LPG cylinders in Delhi has increased by more than 40 percent in the last one year. The price of a 14.2 kg cylinder in Delhi on July 1, 2020 was Rs 594, which did not reach Rs 834.50, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas informed the Upper House.

Since May last year, the prices of cylinders were increasing continuously, barring one incident, the data was analyzed. CNN-News18 is shown. On 1 May 2020, the price of a 14.2 kg cylinder was Rs 581.5. Moreover, between January 1 and July 9 this year, the price of LPG cylinder in the national capital has increased five-fold, while it has decreased only once.

The ministry said that the prices of petroleum products in the country are linked to the prices of the respective products in the international market. It added that LPG prices in the country are based on the Saudi Contract Price (CP), which is the benchmark for international LPG prices. During October, 2020 and April, 2021, the Saudi CP has increased from USD 359 to USD 607.

India imports LPG over 55 per cent of its requirement. Also, domestic LPG is subject to Goods and Services Tax (GST) at 5 per cent.

The data also shows that the refills sold to the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) have increased by more than 50 per cent. In 2019-20, 23.04 crore refills were sold to PMUY beneficiaries, which increased to 35.44 crore in the previous financial year. Between April and June this year, 7.32 crore refills were sold. PMUY was launched in May 2016.

Further, the ministry said that the average consumption of PMUY beneficiaries in 2020-21 has increased by 44 percent as compared to 2019-20.

The ministry’s data also showed that there has been a steady increase in active domestic customers across India. As on July 1, 2021, there are 29.11 crore active domestic LPG consumers including PMUY customers. There were 26.54 crore customers in the country in 2018-19.

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