Domestic LPG cheapest in India despite price hike, says Modi govt; how cooking gas prices move in pakistan usa canada

After domestic LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) bottles became more expensive. ₹29, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said that Indian households still enjoy the most affordable cooking gas rates.

The latest increase in the price of a 14.2kg LPG cylinder – the second such hike since the outbreak of conflict in West Asia – saw rates rise by ₹89 cumulatively. This is the price of domestic LPG ₹942 per cylinder.

However, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said Indian households still buy LPG cylinders at “much cheaper prices” compared to neighboring countries or even developed economies including the US, Canada and Australia.

The ministry emphasized that LPG prices are linked to international markets and that the central government continues to modulate effective prices for domestic consumers, despite fluctuations caused by the US-Iran war.

Read also | ₹29 hike in LPG price: How much will a 14.2kg domestic cylinder cost in your city

How are cooking gas prices moving?

“The household does not bear the brunt, it is a few hundred rupees per cylinder borne by the government. In a period of sharp international cost increases, this burden has been absorbed upwards rather than passed on to consumers,” said a press release issued by the ministry.

He added that the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) are paying effective ₹642 for 14.2 kg cylinder and general consumer in Delhi ₹942, at a cost of supplies which now exceeded ₹1,600.

The table below shows how LPG prices fare compared to neighboring countries and developed economies, according to data shared by the ministry. The last column shows how far the effective price of Ujjwala is ₹642 cylinder is under priced in any market.

MarketPrice per cylinder 14.2 kg ( ₹)Ujjwala consumer pays lessIndia (Ujjwala, effective after revision)642—Pakistan1,046 about 39% Nepal1,207 about 47% Bangladesh. 1,225 about 48% Sri Lanka1,241 about 48% United States approx. 1,755 about 63% of Australia ca. 1,765 about 64% Canada ca. 2,411 about 73%

The Ministry reiterated that PMUY beneficiaries will additionally receive a direct benefit transfer ₹300 per cylinder for the first four refills every year, so it pays off ₹642 for those fillings. “Even a household without a PMUY would pay approx ₹700 below the market price of the cylinder,” he added.

What is the price of LPG:

The commercial pressure cylinder used by hotels and businesses is automatically revised every month because its price is a direct conversion of the international benchmark. There is no domestic cooking cylinder. India imported 60% of its LPG requirements and the cost of these imports follows the Saudi contract price (CP) set by Saudi Aramco at the beginning of each month. This is an external price over which the Indian consumer has no control.

Expressed as the 50:50 propane-butane blend used for India’s LPG, Saudi LPG’s CP was about $543 a tonne in February, before the cut. After the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in late February, the April contract price rose to $775 per tonne and has since increased further to $790 per tonne in June.

Benchmark blended LPG thus increased by approx. 46% from the pre-crisis February level.

After the June contract price, the cost of supplying a 14.2 kg bottle, if prices were based on imports, rose to more than ₹1,600. The insufficient regeneration now absorbed on each home cylinder is approx ₹700, the ministry said.

The range is visible on a commercial bottle at full market price: a 19 kg bottle used by hotels and restaurants sells in Delhi for ₹3,113.50, approx ₹164 kg, after five increases during the West Asian crisis. Household, on the other hand, is about right ₹66 and kg after revision.

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