Domestic Gas Prices Increase By 56% In Four Years

While a recent hike of Rs 50 in the price of the 14.2 kg domestic liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder led to the cost of the cylinder touching Rs 1,103, data has disclosed that the price has registered a rise of nearly 56 per cent in the last four years.

In a report by newsnow, the retail selling price (RSP) of a domestic LPG cylinder (14.2 Kg) on April 1, 2019 was Rs 706.50 which increased to Rs 744 in 2020, Rs 809 in 2021 and Rs 949.50 in 2022. The price increased to Rs 1,103 from Rs 1053 on March 1 this year.

While the price of the domestic LPG cylinder has recorded a substantial rise over the last few years, government data disclosed that the total subsidy on LPG has come down significantly over the last few years.

Details of the subsidy on LPG given by the government during each of the last four years showed that it was Rs 37,209 crore in 2018-19 and came down to Rs 24,172 crore in 2019-20, Rs 11,896 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 1,811 crore in 2021-22.

As per the information from the Ministry of Petroleum, the prices of petroleum products including LPG in the country are linked to the price of respective products in the international market. “The average Saudi CP prices on which the domestic LPG prices are based, increased from US$ 454/MT to US$ 693/MT during 2019-20 to 2021-22.”

“During 2022-23 the average Saudi CP has further risen to US$ 710 /MT till February 2023. However, the government continues to modulate the effective price of domestic LPG. Public sector oil marketing companies have suffered huge losses on sale of domestic LPG,” said the Ministry in a recent Parliament reply.