LPG prices likely to come down next month: Dharmendra Pradhan

LPG prices likely to come down next month: Dharmendra Pradhan

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Feb 20, 2020: Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday said LPG prices may come down next month.The Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel is on a two-day visit to Chhattisgarh. The minister will also visit the Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) located in Durg district of the state and hold meetings with steel plant officials to Hindustan Times.

 

The minister while replying to a query from the media at the Raipur airport said, “It is not true that the price of LPG cylinders is constantly increasing. This month, it was hiked due to the international market. However, there are indications that the prices may come down next month.”

Pradhan further said that during winters, LPG consumption increases, which creates pressure on the sector.

“This month, the price increased while next month it will reduce,” he said.

Cooking gas LPG price increased by Rs 144.50 per cylinder on February 10. To insulate domestic users, the government almost doubled the subsidy it provides on the fuel to keep per cylinder outgo almost unchanged.

The price of LPG was increased to Rs 858.50 per 14.2 kg cylinder from Rs 714 previously, according to a price notification of state-owned oil firms.

This was the steepest hike in rates since January 2014, when prices had gone up by Rs 220 per cylinder to Rs 1,241.Domestic LPG users, who are entitled to buy 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg each at subsidized rates in a year, will get more subsidy.

Reacting to the minister’s statement, state Congress spokesperson Shailesh Nitin Trivedi said, “The BJP is misleading people as they have misled them earlier...the Congress demands that the hike in LPG prices should be taken back immediately by the BJP government. Each and every common man is suffering due to the price hike.”