Here’s why LPG is no more subsidized from the last three months
Due to continuous reduction in subsidy on LPG cylinders in the last one year, the subsidized cylinder has become expensive by Rs 100 and now the subsidy has come down to zero. The market price of 14.2 kg LPG cylinder in the national capital Delhi in July last year i.e. the price of the subsidized cylinder was Rs 637, which has now come down to Rs 594. Despite this, during this period the subsidized cylinder became expensive by Rs 100 and its price increased from Rs 494.35 to Rs 594.
The subsidy and subsidized LPG cylinders have become the same since May this year due to the continuous reduction in subsidy by the government. In May, June, and July this year, customers have not received any subsidy. During the first term of the Modi government, there were reports that the government plans to gradually end the subsidy on LPG cylinders, but Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan kept denying it whenever asked in this regard.
On the other hand, the government has consistently cut subsidies in the last one year. In July 2019, the subsidized LPG cylinder was Rs 494.35 and the non-subsidized cylinder was Rs 637. In October 2019, the subsidized became Rs 517.95 and the non-subsidized was Rs 605. In January this year, the price of the subsidized cylinder increased to Rs 535.14 and the price of the non-subsidized cylinder to Rs 714. In April, the price of the subsidized cylinder rose to Rs 581.57, and the price of non-subsidized to Rs 744.
After a steep fall in LPG prices in the international market in April, the market price of domestic cylinders was reduced by Rs 162.50 to Rs 581.50 in May, resulting in a single price of subsidized and non-subsidized cylinders. In June and July, the price of subsidized cylinders has been increasing equally with unsubsidized cylinders.
Indian Oil Corporation, the country’s largest oil marketing company, has stopped providing information about the price of subsidized cylinders on its website. Until a year ago, information was available on his website. There has been no response from the email written to the public sector company on July 07 to know the reason for the increase in the prices of subsidized cylinders since January last year.
