Gas prices can't be looked at in isolation: Puri on Rs 50 LPG price hike

A day after cooking gas LPG prices were hiked by Rs 50 per cylinder, Hardeep Puri said gas prices cannot be looked at in isolation and that fuel prices have been held steady despite volatility

A day after cooking gas LPG prices were hiked by Rs 50 per cylinder, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said gas prices cannot be looked at in isolation and that fuel prices have been held steady despite volatility in international oil markets.

At a media conference, when he was asked about the steep increase in LPG prices, Puri first said that the government has been constantly striving to increase domestic production of gas and that there has been no shortage of fuel supplies anywhere in the country.

"You cannot look at gas prices in isolation," he said in reference to soaring global energy rates that have led to the price increase.

Non-subsidised LPG rates have gone up by Rs 244 or 30 per cent, in a span of one year and it now costs Rs 1,053 per 14.2 kg-cylinder in the national capital.

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

Without making a direct reference to the LPG price hike, Puri said subsidies are meant to specific target beneficiaries and for specific durations.

"Subsidies have to be regressive," he said.

The minister said that while some nations faced a fuel supply crisis, India did not face any shortage of any fuel in any corner of the country including the North East. "Nowhere in India, there has been a shortage."