OMCs losing ₹700 per LPG cylinder despite latest price hike, says Centre

THe Centre on dominicus justified the modish increment in domestic help liquified petroleum gas (LPG) prices, saying state-run oil marketing companies continue to incur losses of around ₹700 on every 14.2 kg cylinder despite the hike.The government also argued that cooking gas remains cheaper in India than in neighbouring countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh, even as consumers face a second price hike of ₹29 per 14.2 kg cylinder since supply disruptions triggered by the West Asia conflict earlier this year.Public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) late on Saturday night raised domestic LPG prices for the second time since the conflict in West Asia broke out. This follows an earlier price hike of ₹60 per 14.2 kg cylinder on March 7, taking the total increase in cooking gas prices so far to ₹89.On March 7, OMCs raised the price of a 14.2 kg domestic LPG cylinder supplied to general households from ₹853 to ₹913, and further to ₹942 on June 7.The latest hike has made cooking gas costlier than at any time since August 30, 2023, when a cylinder was priced at ₹903. The government, however, provides a subsidy of ₹300 per 14.2 kg cylinder for up to nine refills annually to nearly 100 million poor households under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY).A petroleum ministry statement on Sunday said that the government continues to modulate the effective price for consumers of domestic LPG. “A PMUY beneficiary will additionally receive the direct benefit transfer of ₹300 a cylinder on the first four refills each year — broadly the average annual consumption of a typical Ujjwala household, about four refills a year — and so pays an effective ₹642 on those refills; this support is unchanged,” it added.It is, however, not clear whether the government has officially reduced the number of subsidised cylinders for poor households from nine to four annually in the current financial year. A clarification from the petroleum ministry’s spokespersons is awaited.The Union Cabinet on August 8, 2025, approved a targeted subsidy of ₹300 per 14.2 kg cylinder for up to nine refills per year (and proportionately pro-rated for 5 kg cylinders) for PMUY beneficiaries during the financial year 2025–26.The ministry’s statement also said that Indian households continue to buy cooking gas at prices much lower than those paid by households in neighbouring countries, and far below the prices in advanced economies such as the United States, Australia and Canada. According to the statement, the corresponding equivalent price of LPG is ₹1,046 per 14.2 kg refill in Pakistan, ₹1,225 in Bangladesh, ₹1,755 in the US, ₹1,765 in Australia and ₹2,411 in Canada.“A beneficiary of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) pays an effective ₹642 for a 14.2 kg cylinder, and the general consumer in Delhi ₹942, against a cost to supply that has now risen to over ₹1,600,” it said. “Even a non-PMUY household would pay about ₹700 below the market-linked cost of the cylinder. Retail prices differ marginally across locations on account of distribution costs,” it added.