Cooking gas (LPG) price was on Saturday hiked by Rs. 11.42 per cylinder following government decision to raise commission paid to the dealers.
Subsidised LPG in Delhi will now cost Rs 410.42 per cylinder, up from Rs 399. In Kolkata the new price is Rs 412.42, in Mumbai Rs 434.42 and in Chennai Rs 397.92.
Petrol and diesel prices too may go up marginally as the Oil Ministry considers raising dealers commission by at least 23 paisa and 10 paisa a litre respectively.
The Ministry on Saturday issued orders raising commission paid to LPG dealers from Rs 25.83 per 14.2-kg cylinder to Rs. 37.25, government officials said.
The 44 per cent or Rs. 11.42 per cylinder increase in the commission on the subsidised cooking fuel is being passed on to consumers, they said.
For the consumer, subsidised LPG in Delhi will now cost Rs. 410.42 per cylinder, up from Rs. 399.
The hike comes within weeks of the government deciding to restrict supply of subsidised cooking gas to 6 cylinders of 14.2-kg size per household in a year. The remaining supplies would have to be sourced at market rates.
Officials said the commission paid on market price or non-subsidised LPG too has been raised by Rs. 12.17 to Rs 38 per cylinder. Accordingly, a non-subsidised LPG cylinder price will go up from Rs. 883.5 to Rs. 921.5.
A similar exercise is on to raise commission paid to petrol pump dealers on sale of petrol and diesel. The Ministry is proposing to raise commission paid on petrol by 23 paisa to 1.72 and that on diesel by 10 paisa to Rs. 1.01 a litre.
The hike being considered for petrol and diesel is less than 67 paisa and 42 paisa respectively being demanded by petrol pump dealers in view of their working capital cost going up substantially due to frequent price changes and sharp rise in overheads like electricity charges.
The government has also raised commission paid on 5-kg cylinders by Rs 5.33 to Rs 18.63.
Currently, petrol pump dealers get Rs 1.49 a litre commission on sale of petrol and Rs 0.91 a litre on diesel.
Pump operators have demanded that this be raised to Rs 2.10 a litre on petrol and Rs 1.33 per litre on diesel reasoning that unlike LPG agencies, petrol pumps open 365 days a year on 24 hours basis thereby incurring higher operating cost.
LPG agencies are closed on national holidays as well as once a week.
Besides, petrol pumps provide free facilities such as toilets, water and air-pressure for tyres, while LPG dealers do not provide any such service, Federation of All India Petroleum Traders (FAIPT) general secretary Ajay Bansal said.
Also, LPG rates haven’t increased in over a year but petrol and diesel prices have seen frequent changes.
“Increase in prices mean our working capital (money used to buy fuel from oil companies) goes up. Also, our losses increase because of evaporation of fuel,” he said questioning the Oil Ministry’s rationale of hiking LPG dealers commission by almost 50 per cent and offering only 10 per cent to petrol pumps.
Officials said the hike in LPG rates comes within days of oil firms raising price of non-subsidised cooking gas (LPG) by Rs 127 per cylinder to Rs 883.5 on account of increase in international oil prices.
The government has granted exemption from customs and excise duty on non-subsidised LPG cylinders only for domestic consumption to reduce the price burden on the common man.
The price of commercial 14.2-kg LPG cylinder in Delhi will be Rs 1,062, while that of a 19-kg bottle would be Rs 1,536.5.
Keywords: LPG cylinders, price hike, petrol price hike, diesel price hike, raise commission rates, Oil Ministry
WTI crude has come down 10% in last 10 days and rupee appreciated 7-8%
still they want to raise prices of petrol.Great news . from here if
there is 5 dollars increase in crude they will definitely raise again.
India is great
Despite restricting the number of cylinders to be supplied to 6 per
annum, this price hike surely will not add "fuel to fire" in the
home of lower middle class and poverty line people. There will not be
any compensation for such an increase in living cost for who works
in private firms.The people in these sector are in a confused mood
regarding the increased pattern of day to day expenses.
Those who work in governmental organisation are taken care by the both
central and state governments by rising the dearness allowances. In
same way, if the government reviews the ways to reduce the price of
every day essentials such as cooking gas by considering the hardship
of people who worked in private firms, is greatly appreciated.
Doesn't this government has any concern for common man ? I don't think
in any other country prices are rising this much. Too demoralising.
What is the inflation?
Roubini, the New York university professor dubbed Dr. Doomed for predicting the 2008 financial crisis is confident a “perfect storm” will happen in 2013 which could derail the global economy. We need to see where we are standing in the economic map of the world. Our economy is very bad – in a pathetic condition – and it is going worse. Huge “inflation” which could bring anarchy is due if we don’t do something.
Gita Gopinath, professor of economics at Harvard University said 10% inflation means the economy is overheating. We are starting to burn.
So, the cat is out of the bag. Though the increases in the prices of Petrol, Diesel and LPG cylinders were not altogether unanticipated, what remained doubtful was whether the government would venture to announce them now or put it off for a future date, considering the fact that the opposition parties were more united at the moment in opposing them. With concrete facts and figures, the increases have been justified by the government. They are satisfactory too. But, who can deny the justification in the Aam admi's sole claim of 'right to live'? Freebies given to them with an eye on vote-bank are mere 'maya-jals'. Failure to indentify the really deserving people, has resulted in the un-entitled availing them. What the poor need are jobs and assured minimum wages to ensure basic living conditions. Freebies cannot carry them far. What is badly needed is a worthwhile reform in this regard. The time is ripe for the government to come up with concrete proposals to render justice to them.
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