New Delhi: Ahead of major festivals like Dussehra and Diwali, hotel and restaurant owners and others alike have a reason to worry as commercial gas cylinder will be costlier from Tuesday as announced by the oil marketing companies (OMCs) with steep hike of Rs 48.50 in the price of 19 kg commercial liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders. Besides, the price of jet fuel, or aviation turbine fuel (ATF), was also reduced by 6.3 per cent to its lowest level this year, OMCs said in a notification.
The OMCs also said that the price of 5 kg free trade LPG cylinders has increased by Rs 12, but domestic LPG cylinders remain unaffected by this change. The oil marketing companies had raised the price of 19 kg commercial LPG cylinders by Rs 39 on September 1, however the cost of 14 kg domestic LPG cylinders remains at Rs 803. “The monthly price correction has been done in line with international oil price trends and the price increase will take effect from October 1,” the OMCs said.
As far as the jet fuel price is concerned, it was cut by Rs 5,883 per kilolitre, or 6.29 per cent, to Rs 87,597.22 per kl in the national capital, according to state-owned fuel retailers. This is the lowest price of jet fuel this year. The price reduction, the second in a month, is expected to help ease the burden of airlines for whom fuel makes up for almost 40 per cent of the operating cost. Prices were on September 1 cut by Rs 4,495.5 per kl, or 4.58 per cent.
The ATF rate in Mumbai was reduced to Rs 81,866.13 per kl on Tuesday from Rs 87,432.78 previously. Prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes. Alongside, oil firms increased the price of commercial LPG by Rs 48.5 to Rs 1,740 per 19-kg cylinder. Commercial LPG now costs Rs 1,692.50 per 19-kg cylinder in Mumbai, Rs 1,850.50 in Kolkata and Rs 1,903 in Chennai.
State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) revise prices of ATF and cooking gas on the first of every month based on the average price of benchmark international fuel and foreign exchange rate. However, prices of petrol and diesel continue to remain frozen. Rates had been cut Rs 2 per litre in mid-March. Petrol costs Rs 94.72 a litre in Delhi while diesel is priced at Rs 87.62.
