LPG price hiked by Rs26.50 to Rs922 per cylinder

Fuel marketing companies have raised the price of cooking gas (LPG), which households buy beyond the subsidised quota of six cylinders a year, by Rs26.50 to Rs922 per unit, in tune with firm international prices of crude oil.

Domestic consumers in Delhi who buy additional gas beyond their annual quota of six 14.2-kg cylinders, will now have to pay Rs922 per cylinder against the Rs895.50 they have been paying so far.

The 19-kg cooking gas cylinder for commercial consumers will now cost Rs1,551 in Delhi, Rs1,635 in Mumbai, Rs1,611 in Kolkata and Rs1,765 in Chennai, according to Indian Oil Corp, the nation's top fuel retailer.

State-owned oil firms revise retail prices of non-subsidised LPG on the first day of every month based on the average imported cost and rupee-US dollar rate during the previous month.

Since the government had restricted the supply of subsidised domestic LPG cylinders to six per household in a year, domestic consumers are forced to buy at market rates to meet the requirement of cooking gas.

There is no restriction on the number of non-subsidised cylinders that a consumer can buy beyond the six subsidised bottles.

Rates of non-subsidised 14.2-kg cylinder and those of commercial bottles of the same size differ because the government has granted exemption from customs and excise duty on non-subsidised LPG cylinders only for domestic consumption to reduce the price burden on the common man.