The government has said that Indian households are paying lowest cooking gas prices in the world compared to the prices in advanced economies such as the US, Australia and Canada, highlighting the beneficiary of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawal Yojana (PMUY), ANI reports quoting a Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) statement.
Despite the increase in Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) prices by Rs 29 per cylinder after sharp rise of Saudi Contract Price by 46 percent, the government continues to provide an effective price for domestic LPG. The cost of a LPG supply has increased up to Rs 1,600. Yet, consumers can purchase a 14.2 kg cylinder at Rs 642 and Rs 942 in Delhi under the benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawal Yojana (PMUY).
Any household enrolled under PMUY can buy as many cylinders as it wants and get a subsidy of Rs 300 per cylinder through Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) on every first four refills every year making the effective cost of each cylinder Rs 642. Even the non-PMUY consumer only pays up to Rs 700 for a 14.2 kg cylinder.
“What the household does not bear the brunt of is the several hundred rupees a cylinder which the government is bearing. Through a period of sharp international cost increases, that burden has been absorbed upstream rather than passed to the consumer,” ANI quoted MoPNG.
The ministry highlighted the direct relation of the increase of LPG prices in India with the increase of corresponding prices in the international market due to the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz. It also mentioned that there is no shortage of any petroleum products as it has managed to keep its energy cargoes moving through the Strait of Hormuz.
