Centre hikes LPG cylinder price by Rs 50

New Delhi: Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder price, for both Ujjwala and non-Ujjwala users, will be hiked by Rs 50 effective from Tuesday, while the central government also decided to increase excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre that will squeeze the profit margins of oil marketing companies but will not impact consumers.

For beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), who used to get LPG cylinders at a subsidised rate of Rs 500, the new price will be Rs 550.

The price of non-subsidised LPG cylinder of 14.2 kg for domestic use will increase from Rs 803 to Rs 853. Out of nearly 33 crore LPG connections in the country 10.33 crore connections are under Ujjwala category as of March 2025.

Addressing a media briefing, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said the cooking gas price will be reviewed every fortnight. He said that the government has decided to increase LPG cylinder prices to help lower the under recoveries on selling of the domestic cooking gas.

The public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) incurred a loss of Rs 28,000 crore on supply of domestic LPG on subsidised rates in 2024-25. The centre has approved a one-time compensation of Rs 22,000 crore for them to help bridge these losses.

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry announced Rs 2 per litre increase in excise duty on petrol and diesel with effect from April 8. The excise duty on petrol will be increased to Rs 13 per litre while on diesel it will be raised to Rs 10 per litre.

However, it will not lead to any immediate change in retail prices of petrol and diesel. “In the case of petrol and diesel, if this trend remains the price is likely to be revised by them (oil marketing companies). It is a deregulated sector. They don’t have to come to us,” Puri said.

Technically, OMCs are free to revise the prices on a daily basis taking into consideration the international prices and other costs. While they announce minor changes, major revisions are still directed through the government’s action on excise duties.

The government has kept a lid on petrol and diesel prices through excise duty adjustments. When crude oil price moderates in the international market, excise duty is hiked.

Criticising the government’s move, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said the move will rub salt to the wound of the common man who have been hit by inflation and stock market crash.

“The international crude oil prices have fallen by 41% as compared to May 2014, but your plundering government, instead of reducing the prices of petrol and diesel, has increased the Central Excise Duty by Rs 2 each,” Kharge wrote on X.