Cooking Gas Subsidy

Price of domestic LPG cylinder to be Rs. 803 in Delhi

The price of domestic cooking gas LPG at Rs 603 for a 14.2 kilogramme cylinder for beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) is the cheapest in India when compared to rates in neighbouring countries, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in the Rajya Sabha on Monday. The minister, during the Question Hour in the Upper House, said India imports 60 per cent of its LPG requirement. Despite volatile and high global prices of LPG, the government absorbed it and kept the prices lower for the Ujjwala beneficiaries. "Ujjwala cylinders are available at Rs 603. It costs Rs 1,059.46 in Pakistan, Rs 1,033.35 in Sri Lanka and at Rs 1,198.56 in Nepal. We are providing LPG cylinders at 50 per cent of the price. ...We have absorbed the global price increase and that's why cylinders are cheapest in India," he said. The LPG price in Saudi Arabia has increased from USD 415 per tonne to USD 700-odd per tonne in two years, but the government has absorbed the rise in rates, he said.

The latest decision comes on the back of a series of steps taken by the Centre over the past one month to reduce the cost of LPG cylinder ahead of crucial state and general elections

The government said the decision "will bring respite to households across the nation" and "ensure access to essential commodities at reasonable rates"

LPG rates this week were hiked by Rs 50 per 14.2-kg cylinder, taking the total increase in last one year to Rs 244 or 30 per cent.

The central government is planning to allocate Rs 44,000 crore as compensation to oil companies for losses they have been bearing by selling LPG at below-market rates, a report said

The govt will give Rs 200 per cylinder subsidy to Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries for 12 cylinders in a year to help ease some of the burden arising from cooking gas rates rising to record levels

The hike comes on the back of a Rs 50 per cylinder increase effected on May 7

The RTI reply revealed that in 2018-19, three state-run OMCs paid Rs 37,585 crore as subsidy, which came down to only Rs 2,706 crore in FY22 till December, Kolarkar told PTI

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Lower subsidy allocation for disbursing new connections to poor indicates saturation of new PMUY beneficiaries

Centre assessing appropriate price at which subsidy should resume

While there was no need for subsidy in the low-oil-price phase of 2020, LPG prices have zoomed in 2021. But the Centre has not transferred subsidy at any point this year

The latest increase in subsidised LPG price now has taken the cumulative rate hike since January 1 to Rs 190 per cylinder

The government has completely eliminated the need to provide subsidy on domestic cooking gas as the global fall in oil prices has brought the price of the common man's fuel closer to market rates.

Move may open up subsidised LPG sector to private marketers

Earlier, beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) were entitled to three free liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders effective April 1 to June 30 this year.

This is a third straight monthly reduction in the price of LPG cylinders and comes on the back of falling international rates

After his successful experiment with cooking gas subsidy, the PM's second such exercise - the call for a 'janata curfew' - could be precursor to more ambitious follow-through steps, writes T N Ninan

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