LPG cylinders to be costlier in another setback after fuel price hike

Mumbai :In yet another blow to the public after a continuous hike in fuel prices in the past two weeks, prices for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) increased by Rs 2.34 and Rs 48 for subsidised and non-subsidised cylinders respectively in the national capital on Friday.
The new price for subsidised (14.2 Kg) cylinder in Delhi is Rs 493.55, while that of non-subsidised cylinder is Rs 698.50.
Besides Delhi, the new rates for subsidised cylinder are Rs 496.65 in Kolkata, Rs 491.31 in Mumbai and Rs 481.84 in Chennai respectively.
Non-subsidised LPG cylinders, on the other hand, are being sold at Rs 723.50 in Kolkata, Rs 671.50 in Mumbai and Rs 712.50 in Chennai.
Thie hike comes amid criticism that the government has been receiving for not curbing rising fuel prices for 16 consecutive days until May 30, when prices were brought by just 1 paisa. On Thursday, petrol prices were reduced by 7 paise, and another 6 paise on Friday.
In Delhi, Petrol now costs Rs 78.29 per litre, while diesel price has been revised to Rs 69.20 a litre.
The oil companies had on Thursday cut the prices by 7 paise per litre for petrol and 5 paise per litre for diesel. It came after a day of confusion when it was announced that fuel prices were slashed by 60 paise per litre but was later corrected to 1 paise.
There was an announcement about petrol prices going down by 60 paise in Delhi and 59 paise in Mumbai, and diesel prices going down by 56 paise in Delhi and 59 paise in Mumbai, it was later clarified by the Indian Oil Corporation that the reduction was of merely 1 paisa per litre.
Earlier in May, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had refuted reports of alleged hike in LPG price in the recent months. In a statement, the ministry had said that there has rather been a fall of around Rs 100 in the retail selling price of non-subsidized price LPG price.
Every household in India is entitled to 12 LPG cylinders per year at a subsidised rate. However, LPG cylinders bought beyond the prescribed number has to be purchased at market prices which are known as non-subsidised LPG rates.