New Delhi: The price of LPG for consumers in India is much lower than in neighbouring Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri informed the Parliament on Thursday.
In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, the minister also tabled data showing that the effective price of a 14.2 kg LPG cylinder as on November 1 this year in India (Delhi) was Rs 553 for PMUY beneficiaries, while in the case of regular consumers, the price was Rs 853. This is much lower than the prevailing prices in neighbouring Pakistan (Lahore) at Rs 902.20 per cylinder, Sri Lanka (Colombo) at Rs 1,227.58 and Nepal (Kathmandu) at Rs 1,205.72.
India imports about 60 per cent of its LPG requirement, and accordingly, prices of LPG in the country are linked to its prices in the international market. While the average Saudi CP (international benchmark for LPG pricing) rose by 21 per cent from US$ 385/MT in July 2023 to US$ 466/MT in November 2025, the prices of domestic LPG were reduced by about 22 per cent from Rs. 1103 to Rs. 853 during this period, the minister said.
He said that for FY 2025-26, the government is providing a targeted subsidy of Rs 300 per 14.2 kg cylinder for up to 9 refills of a 14.2 kg cylinder to the PMUY consumers. For PMUY consumers, the effective price for domestic LPG has been reduced by about 39 per cent from Rs 903 in August 2023 to Rs 553 in November 2025.
As a result of various steps taken by the government to improve the affordability of domestic LPG for PMUY consumers, per connection consumption of PMUY beneficiaries (in terms of the number of 14.2 kg LPG cylinder refills taken per year) has increased from 3.68 (FY 2021-22) to 4.47 in FY 2024-25.
In order to provide more LPG for cooking in rural and remote areas, oil marketing companies (OMCs) have commissioned 8,017 distributorships, from April 1, 2016, to October 31, 2025, across the country, out of which 7,420 (i.e. 93 per cent) are catering to rural areas. As of November 1 this year, there are a total of 25,587 LPG distributorships across the country. These are served through 214 LPG bottling plants of OMCs located across the country. As a result of these efforts, LPG coverage in the country has improved from 62 per cent in April 2016 to near saturation now, the minister added.
(IANS)
