A major development may be around the corner regarding the subsidy on the LPG cylinder. There is a constant discussion that the price of an LPG cylinder will reach Rs 1,000. The views of the government regarding the rising inflation of LPG cylinders have not come to the fore yet. But in an internal assessment of the government, it is indicating that consumers are ready to pay up to Rs 1,000 for a cylinder.
According to sources cited by Zee News, the government may take two stances regarding LPG cylinders. First, the government starts supply of cylinders without subsidy. Second, some selected consumers get the benefit of subsidy.
Nothing has been clarified by the government about giving the subsidy yet. But according to the information received so far, the rule of Rs 10 lakh income will be kept in force and the beneficiaries of the Ujjwala scheme will get the benefit of subsidy. It is possible that the subsidy may end for the rest of the people.
The subsidy on LPG has been stopped in some places for the last several months and this rule is in place from May 2020. This step was taken only after the prices of crude oil and gas have fallen continuously during the coronavirus pandemic in the international markets. However, so far, the government has not completely stopped the subsidy on LPG cylinders.
The government's expenditure on subsidies stood at Rs 3,559 during the financial year 2021. In the financial year 2020, this expenditure was Rs 24,468 crore. Actually, this is under the DBT scheme, which was started in January 2015, under which the customers have to pay the full amount for the non-subsidized LPG cylinder and the subsidy money is refunded to the customer's bank account later by the government. Since this refund is direct, the scheme is named DBTL.
On September 1, the government had increased the price of LPG cylinders by Rs 25. This increase was made on 14.2 kg cylinder i.e. domestic gas. With this increase, the price of cylinder in Delhi has gone up to Rs 884.50. The price of 14.2 kg LPG cylinder in Mumbai is currently fixed at Rs 884.50 and in Chennai at Rs 900.50. That is, the price of gas is increasing continuously.
