Domestic LPG cylinder price crosses ₹1,000 mark

Prices for domestic liquefied petroleum gas were hiked by ₹3.50 on Thursday, taking the LPG cylinder price in most cities over the ₹1,000-mark.

Non-subsidised cooking gas now costs ₹1,003 per 14.2-kg cylinder in the national capital, according to a price notification issued by state-run fuel retailers. In Kolkata, it costs ₹1029, while in Mumbai cooking gas is retailing at ₹1002.50.

In Chennai, consumers will have to shell out ₹1018.50 for an LPG cylinder.

Costs of LPG cylinders vary across cities due to value-added tax (VAT) and other taxes.

The hike comes days after LPG price was raised by ₹50 per cylinder on May 7. Prices were hiked by the same amount on March 22.

Earlier this month, the price of 19-kg commercial LPG cylinders was hiked by ₹102 to ₹2,355.5 in Delhi. The price of a 5-kg LPG commercial cylinder was also increased to ₹655.

These price hikes come at a time when fuel inflation, after moderating for the past five months, increased sharply from 7.5% in March to 10.8% in April, primarily due to an increase in kerosene (PDS) and LPG inflation, according to the Reserve Bank of India.

India's retail inflation rate in April soared to an eight year high of 7.79% fuelled by the high prices of vegetables and oils.

The headline inflation growth rate is the highest in the last eight years. Even during the last two years of the pandemic, the consumer price inflation rate touched a peak rate of 7.61% in October 2021.

The CPI has remained above the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) upper tolerance limit of 6% for four months now. In an off-cycle meeting on May 2 and 4, all six members of the monetary policy panel, including RBI governor Shaktikanta Das, voted for increasing policy repo rate by 40 basis points to 4.4%, while retaining the accommodative stance.

Meanwhile, aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices were hiked by 5% to ₹123,039.71 per kilolitre in the national capital earlier this week. This is the tenth consecutive hike in aviation fuel prices which have increased every fortnight since the start of the calendar year 2022. Jet fuel prices are changed twice every month based on the average price of the international benchmark in the preceding fortnight.