New Delhi: Oil marketing companies (OMC) have reduced the price of commercial cooking gas across the four metro cities. In the national capital, the price of a 19-kg commercial LPG cylinder has been slashed by ₹115.5 to ₹1,744.
The price of a commercial LPG cylinder in Mumbai has also been cut by ₹115.5 to ₹1696. In Kolkata and Chennai, it has been lowered by ₹113 and ₹116 to ₹1,846 and ₹1,893, respectively.
The reduction in prices comes as global natural gas prices have eased. India imports about half of the cooking gas it uses.
Prices of domestic LPG cylinders, however, remained unchanged. The price of a non-subsidized 14.2-kg LPG cylinder in Delhi stands at ₹1,053.
Last month, the Cabinet approved a one-time payment of ₹22,000 crore to OMCs to compensate them for their losses in selling cooking gas below cost. The grant would be distributed among Indian Oil Corp Ltd (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL).
According the government data, during June 2020-June 2022, international prices of LPG rose by around 300%. However, domestic LPG prices were raised by only 72% during this period to insulate consumers from price fluctuations, an official statement said. This, however, led to significant losses for the three firms.
Fuel prices, including LPG, play a major role in the country’s inflation. India’s wholesale inflation eased to an 18-month low in September, as food and manufactured goods inflation showed signs of easing.
