Eye on elections, Centre cuts LPG price by ?200

NT Correspondent

New Delhi: The government on Tuesday announced a Rs 200 per cylinder cut in prices of domestic cooking gas to soften the impact of rising inflation on households as well as counter the promise of cheaper LPG made by the Congress party in upcoming assembly elections.

At present, a 14.2-kg LPG cylinder in the national capital costs Rs 1,103 - more than double the rate it came for in May 2020. It will cost Rs 903 when the decision is implemented from Wednesday.

For Ujjwala beneficiaries, the price will be Rs 703 after considering the continuing Rs 200 per cylinder subsidy. Announcing the decision, Infor mation and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said the move is aimed at providing relief to households.

Also, the government will provide an additional 75 lakh Ujjwala connections, which will take the total PMUY beneficiaries to 10.35 crores.

Commenting on the decision, Prime Minister Narendra Modi the festival of Raksha Bandhan is a day to enhance happiness in the family and the decision to cut prices will greately help women.

"Every sister of mine should be happy and healthy, that is my prayer to God." he said on X .

Cooking gas prices have shot up in the last couple of years and have become a major election issue. The Cong ress party used the high LPG prices, which had burnt a hole in the budgets of households already reeling under high inflation, effectively in the recently concluded assembly elections in Karnataka.

It has promised to give LPG at Rs 500 per cylinder if voted to power in Madhya Pradesh, where elections are due in November-December. The Congress is also providing the LPG at the same price in Rajasthan, where elections are due in November-December.

Thakur however refused to link the decision with elections saying it was a gift from the Modi government to women on the occasion of Onam and Raksha Bandhan.

While he did not say how the price cut would be financed, it is presumed that state-owned fuel retailers will from Wednesday reduce the prices and will get compensated for the same by the government later.