Hyderabad: Domestic and commercial users of LPG cylinders were in for a rude shock on Wednesday as oil companies hiked the price of the domestic 14.2-kilogram cylinder by Rs 50 and commercial 19-kg cylinder by Rs 351.5.
With the hikes, a 14.2-kg cylinder now costs Rs 1,155 and a 19-kg commercial one Rs 2,325 in Hyderabad. Further, LPG distributors said they expect the costs to rocket further, later this year.
This marks the second time that the price of LPG cylinders has been hiked this financial year, following a Rs 100-hike on domestic cylinder cost on July 1, 2022. For comparison, a 14.2-kg LPG cylinder cost Rs 589.5 in May 2020.
The Central government pays a subsidy of Rs 200 per cylinder to 9.58 crore poor families, who got free LPG connections under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. Other consumers have no respite.
Jagan Mohan Reddy, the president of Telangana LPG Distributors Association, said, “After seven months, this increased happened. We are forecasting a further increase in coming months, as market determine prices for the domestic cylinder. It is expected to reach Rs 1,325, approximately.”
Accordingly, the news has not gone down well with commercial establishments like restaurants and hotels, who said that they are not being given a scope to recover from losses incurred during the Covid-induced lockdowns.
Mustafa Majaz Hussain, of Have More Hotels in Secunderabad, said, “This will be an excess burden on the hotel and food industry, as our expenses go up and we have to charge customers more. The Ramzan season also starts on March 22, and the increased cost will adversely impact the hotel industry. After the shock of Covid lockdown, the market is slowly adjusting, but this rate hike is another blow.”
There are around 1,13,64,000 domestic household consumers in the state who will be affected by the price hike.
Bhagyashri Chandrashaker, a resident of Borabanda, said, “It may seem to the government that it’s just a Rs 50 hike per cylinder, but for middle-class families, this is an added burden as my husband is the sole breadwinner for a family of six.”
