LPG Price Hike: Government says rates in India among world's lowest despite 46% jump in global benchmark
Indian households continue to pay among the lowest prices for cooking gas globally despite a sharp rise in international LPG prices triggered by disruptions in
Indian households continue to pay among the lowest prices for cooking gas globally despite a sharp rise in international LPG prices triggered by disruptions in West Asia, the government said on Sunday (June 7, 2026), a day after increasing domestic LPG prices by ₹29 per cylinder. The price of a 14.2-kg domestic LPG cylinder in Delhi was raised to ₹942 from ₹913, while beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) will continue to pay an effective ₹642 per cylinder after receiving a subsidy of ₹300 per refill on the first four refills annually, down from 9 refills announced last year. The increase follows a ₹60-per-cylinder hike on March 7, taking the cumulative hike to ₹89 per 14.2-kg cylinder. State-run oil marketing companies were estimated to be losing about ₹703 on every LPG cylinder sold before the latest revision. In a statement, the government said the cost of supplying a domestic LPG cylinder has risen to more than ₹1,600 following a surge in international prices that followed the outbreak of war in West Asia at the end February. India's LPG import costs are linked to the Saudi Contract Price (CP), the global benchmark for the fuel. The benchmark has risen about 46% since February after disruptions linked to the Strait of Hormuz tightened supplies from the Gulf region, according to the statement. Despite the increase, domestic LPG prices remain below those prevailing in neighbouring countries such as Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, and significantly lower than prices in advanced economies, including the United States, Australia, and Canada, the government said. The government also said India was among the few countries able to maintain uninterrupted energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz during the crisis, ensuring there was no shortage of LPG or other petroleum products in the country.
Domestic LPG production was increased and supplies diversified through alternative sourcing arrangements to safeguard availability, it added. Follow West Asia war LIVE updates According to the statement, cumulative under-recoveries on domestic LPG sales rose to about ₹60,000 crore by the end of the previous financial year, compared with ₹41,338 crore a year earlier. The Union Cabinet has approved ₹30,000 crore in compensation to state-run oil marketing companies to partly offset these losses. The government said the latest revision balances the need to shield households from volatile global energy prices while ensuring continued availability of cooking fuel across the country. "The prices of petroleum products in India are linked to the corresponding prices in the international market. The government, however, continues to modulate the effective price to the consumer for domestic LPG. Any household can buy as many cylinders as it needs at ₹942," the statement said. "A PMUY beneficiary will additionally receive the direct benefit transfer of ₹300 a cylinder on the first four refills each year — broadly the average annual consumption of a typical Ujjwala household, about four refills a year — and so pays an effective ₹642 on those refills; this support is unchanged." Even a non-PMUY household would pay about ₹700 below the market-linked cost of the cylinder. Retail prices differ marginally across locations on account of distribution costs. "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," it said.
The BriefWire