Govt may raise subsidised LPG cylinder quota

The government on Thursday said it will "look into" a demand to raise the quota of subsidised LPG cylinders to 12 per household in a year from the current limit of nine, a day after the price of non-subsidised LPG was increased by a steep Rs 220.

"There is a request that the subsidised cylinders be increased from nine to 12...It came from several chief ministers," Finance Minister P Chidambaram said.

There have also been demands to roll back the hike of Rs 220 per cylinder of non-subsidised cooking gas (LPG), which customers buy after consuming their quota of nine subsidized cylinders.

Each non-subsidised 14.2-kg cooking gas cylinder currently costs Rs 1,241 in Delhi, about three times more expensive than a cylinder of subsidised LPG.

"I am not sure whether the Petroleum Ministry has actually operationalised the increase in price of non-subsidised cylinders. We will take a look both at the proposal (for a rollback in price) as well the demand from some quarters that nine subsidised cylinders should be increased to 12," Chidambaram said.

With a view to cut its subsidy bill, the government had capped the supply of subsidised domestic LPG cylinders to six per household in a year in September 2012. The quota was raised to nine bottles per household a year in January 2013.

Officials said state-owned oil firms currently lose Rs 762.70 per cylinder on the sale of subsidised LPG and if Wednesday's hike is to be rolled back, the government will have to increase subsidy.