Breather for households as LPG price cut by Rs 200/cyl

New Delhi The government on Tuesday announced a Rs200 per cylinder cut in prices of domestic cooking gas as it looked to counter the cheaper LPG promise of the Congress in upcoming assembly elections in states like Madhya Pradesh. AThe decision comes with Assembly elections scheduled in four States in December and Lok Sabha polls are to be held next year.

At present, a 14.2-kg LPG cylinder in the national capital costs Rs1,103 - more than double the rate it came for in May 2020. It will cost Rs903 when the decision is implemented from Wednesday. For Ujjwala beneficiaries, the price will be Rs703 after considering the continuing Rs200 per cylinder subsidy. Announcing the decision, Information 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.

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