New Delhi, June 7 (IANS). The Petroleum Ministry on Sunday said the prices of cooking gas used in Indian households are still much lower than neighboring countries and developed countries like the US, Australia and Canada.
According to the ministry statement, a beneficiary of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana effectively gets a 14.2 kg cylinder for Rs 642, while a typical consumer buys it for Rs 942 in Delhi. Whereas its actual supply cost has now exceeded Rs 1600.
The government said that the price of domestic LPG is kept moderate for the consumers.
Any family can buy as many cylinders as per their need at the rate of Rs 942 per cylinder. Beneficiaries of the Ujjwala scheme get a direct subsidy of Rs 300 per cylinder on the first four refills every year, so their effective price comes to around Rs 642 per cylinder.
The ministry said that this assistance is continuing as before. Non-Ujjwala households also get the cylinder at about Rs 700 less than the market-based actual cost. Prices may vary slightly due to delivery costs at different locations.
The price of commercial cylinders (which are used in hotels and businesses) is changed every month according to the international market but the price of domestic cylinders is not changed directly every month.
India earlier imported about 60 percent of its LPG needs. Its import price is based on the Saudi contract price decided by Saudi Arabia, which is fixed at the beginning of every month.
In February, before the crisis, the price of LPG was around $543 per tonne. It rose to $775 a tonne in April after the Strait of Hormuz was closed in late February. In June it further increased to about $790 per tonne.
In this way, the international benchmark of LPG has increased by about 46 percent compared to the February level. The ministry said that due to this the cost of imported LPG has also increased.
–IANS
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