Shock After Shock: LPG Gas Price Hiked Again

Common man in India has been bearing the brunt of ongoing US – Iran war as oil and natural gas prices kept on soaring quite often in the past few months due to the West Asia crisis.

As if the recent price hikes in fuel prices is not enough, the government has gave another big shock to middle-class and poor families by increasing the domestic LPG gas prices by Rs. 29 with immediate effect. The price of a standard 14.2-kg LPG cylinder has now reached ₹942 from the previous ₹913 in the national capital.

This marks the second major price hike in just three months, following a steep ₹60-per-cylinder increase on March 7 triggered by supply disruptions since the start of the war. Due to elections in several states, the government didn’t hike the prices fearing public outrage and negative impact on the polls.

These revisions aim to partially mitigate the massive losses state-run oil marketing companies. Prior to this latest adjustment, suppliers were estimated to be losing roughly ₹703 on every domestic cylinder sold. Since mid-May, petrol and diesel prices have climbed by a cumulative ₹7.50 per litre, while compressed natural gas (CNG) has risen by approximately ₹6 per kg.

Sources say that despite these back-to-back price hikes in both fuel and LPG, oil companies are said to be selling petrol and diesel below their actual cost and incurring losses of around Rs 11 per litre on petrol and Rs 33.6 per litre on diesel.

Unless, the war ends and normalcy is restored, the price may continue to be revised as government has no other option but to pass the burden onto the common public.