Lok Sabha Question No. 2130 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-02
Subject: Variation in LPG Prices
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: Karti P. Chidambaram

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2130 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02 ND  AUGUST, 2021

## Variation in LPG Prices

## 2130. SHRI KARTI P. CHIDAMBARAM:

## isVªksfy;e vkSj izkÑfrd xSl ea=h

Will the Minister of PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS be pleased to state:

- (a) the reasons for continually high LPG prices, even as international prices fell;
- (b) the details of the variation in gas cylinder prices, subsidised and non-subsidised over the last five years, State-wise;
- (c) the number of initial beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) who have sought cylinder refills, State/year-wise;
- (d)  the  number  of  initial  beneficiaries  of  the  PMUY  who  have  sought  at  least  three  cylinder refills, State-wise;
- (e) the number of people using LPG as the primary or exclusive fuel, year-wise along with the measures being taken to ensure LPG usage beyond first-use; and
- (f)  whether  the  Government  has  an  understanding  of  the  impact  of  increasing  LPG  prices  on overall household expenditure?

## ANSWER

isVªksfy;e vkSj izkÑfrd xSl ea=ky; esa jkT; ea=h

( ी रामेवर तेल )

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS (SHRI RAMESWAR TELI)

(a): The  prices  of  petroleum  products  in  the  country  are  linked  to  the  price  of  respective products in the international market. Prices of LPG in the country are based on Saudi Contract Price (CP), the benchmark for international prices of LPG and during October, 2020 to April,

2021 Saudi CP has risen from 359 USD to 607 USD. India imports more than 55 % of its LPG requirement.

- (b): The details of average prices of domestic LPG cylinders (14.2 kg) at Delhi market during the last five years and the current year is given as under:
- (c): The  State-wise  number  of  PMUY  Beneficiaries  taken  LPG  refills  during  the  last  two financial years and the current year (Apr-Jun'21) is provided at Annexure-1.
- (d): The State-wise number of initial PMUY beneficiaries who have taken at least three refills as on 31.05.2021 since inception of the scheme is provided at Annexure-2.
- (e): As  on  01.07.2021,  there  are  29.11  crore  active  Domestic  LPG  consumers  (including PMUY Customers) on all India basis. Year-wise numbers of Active Domestic customers (incl. PMUY Customers) during last three years are given below:

| Year                |   Domestic LPG RSP Rs./14.2 Kg cylinder |
|---------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| 2016-17             |                                  549.69 |
| 2017-18             |                                  653.46 |
| 2018-19             |                                  768.12 |
| 2019-20             |                                  694.73 |
| 2020-21             |                                  695.15 |
| 2021-22 (till July) |                                  821.75 |

| Period   |   Active Domestic customers (incl. PMUY) (in crore) |
|----------|-----------------------------------------------------|
| 2018-19  |                                               26.54 |
| 2019-20  |                                               27.87 |
| 2020-21  |                                               28.95 |

The various steps being taken to improve LPG consumption among PMUY beneficiaries is given below:

-  Deferment  of  loan  recovery  from  subsidy  amount  to  reduce  the  net  cash  outgo  of  a PMUY consumer to encourage refill consumption for  six  refills  or  period  of  one  year whichever is earlier during FY 18-19 and also during Aug '19 - July '20.
-  Swap option from 14.2 kg connections to 5 kg connections which will reduce the upfront cash outgo for a PMUY consumer and thus encourage refill consumption.
-  PMUY connections were given option of 5kg DBC package for the financial ease of the customer. To avail the 5kg refills, the upfront cash outgo for a customer will be low.
-  During lockdown on account of Covid-19, existing PMUY beneficiaries were supported with free refills scheme under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana. Under this scheme, an advance was given to the linked bank account of the beneficiaries using which refills could be availed.
-  Conducting  Pradhan  Mantri  LPG  Panchayat  (PMLP),  a  community-based  program  to create awareness about the scheme and also to address any issue pertaining to LPG usage.
-  After achieving 8 Crore LPG connections, PMLP targeted nil or low refill consumers, to convince  them  about  sustained  usage  of  LPG.  Total  1.46  lakh  LPG  Panchayats  were conducted during 2018-20 .

(f): In order to insulate the common man from the impact of rise in international oil prices, the Government continues to modulate the effective price to consumer of Domestic LPG. The prices  of  non-subsidized  Domestic  LPG  are  however  determined  by  the  OMCs  in  line  with changes  in  the  international  markets.  Government  provided  upto  3  free  of  cost  LPG  cylinder refills to PMUY consumers in the year 2020 to provide support during COVID pandemic.

The  impact  of  increase  in  prices  of  LPG  can  be  seen  on  inflationary  trend  measured  by Wholesale Price Index (WPI).  The weightage of LPG in the WPI index is 0.64%.

## Annexure - 1

| State/UT -wise and Year-wise number of PMUY Beneficiaries taken LPG refill   | State/UT -wise and Year-wise number of PMUY Beneficiaries taken LPG refill   | State/UT -wise and Year-wise number of PMUY Beneficiaries taken LPG refill   | State/UT -wise and Year-wise number of PMUY Beneficiaries taken LPG refill   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| State/UT                                                                     | No. of Consumers taken refill during FY 2019-20                              | No. of Consumers taken refill during FY 2020-21                              | No. of consumers taken refill during FY 2021-22 (Apr-Jun'21)                 |
| Andaman &nicobar islands                                                     | 10,301                                                                       | 12,021                                                                       | 8,493                                                                        |
| Andhra pradesh                                                               | 350,946                                                                      | 390,532                                                                      | 243,893                                                                      |
| Arunachal pradesh                                                            | 39,027                                                                       | 44,489                                                                       | 27,302                                                                       |
| Assam                                                                        | 2,590,426                                                                    | 3,405,671                                                                    | 1,610,834                                                                    |
| Bihar                                                                        | 7,316,261                                                                    | 8,409,118                                                                    | 5,489,639                                                                    |
| Chandigarh                                                                   | 80                                                                           | 87                                                                           | 60                                                                           |
| Chhattisgarh                                                                 | 1,563,556                                                                    | 2,783,039                                                                    | 931,189                                                                      |
| Dadra Nagar-Haveli Daman &Diu                                                | 12,226                                                                       | 15,120                                                                       | 9,306                                                                        |
| Delhi                                                                        | 72,788                                                                       | 75,507                                                                       | 60,794                                                                       |
| Goa                                                                          | 1,002                                                                        | 1,070                                                                        | 784                                                                          |
| Gujarat                                                                      | 2,607,695                                                                    | 2,871,796                                                                    | 2,046,808                                                                    |
| Haryana                                                                      | 693,926                                                                      | 718,835                                                                      | 517,155                                                                      |
| Himachal pradesh                                                             | 127,687                                                                      | 135,793                                                                      | 85,417                                                                       |
| Jammu &kashmir                                                               | 1,064,024                                                                    | 1,211,497                                                                    | 526,199                                                                      |
| Jharkhand                                                                    | 2,264,792                                                                    | 3,217,282                                                                    | 1,390,140                                                                    |
| Karnataka                                                                    | 2,802,755                                                                    | 3,128,891                                                                    | 2,245,995                                                                    |
| Kerala                                                                       | 238,244                                                                      | 255,426                                                                      | 186,681                                                                      |
| Ladakh                                                                       | 10,185                                                                       | 11,033                                                                       | 5,218                                                                        |
| Lakshadweep                                                                  | 252                                                                          | 290                                                                          | 166                                                                          |
| Madhya pradesh                                                               | 5,476,546                                                                    | 7,076,055                                                                    | 3,657,394                                                                    |
| Maharashtra                                                                  | 3,889,129                                                                    | 4,383,499                                                                    | 2,895,848                                                                    |
| Manipur                                                                      | 142,883                                                                      | 154,161                                                                      | 117,285                                                                      |
| Meghalaya                                                                    | 107,701                                                                      | 146,987                                                                      | 62,435                                                                       |
| Mizoram                                                                      | 25,387                                                                       | 28,078                                                                       | 21,066                                                                       |
| Nagaland                                                                     | 46,100                                                                       | 54,890                                                                       | 31,140                                                                       |
| Odisha                                                                       | 3,567,010                                                                    | 4,699,801                                                                    | 2,282,601                                                                    |
| Puducherry                                                                   | 13,708                                                                       | 14,375                                                                       | 11,846                                                                       |
| Punjab                                                                       | 1,105,433                                                                    | 1,210,129                                                                    | 826,417                                                                      |
| Rajasthan                                                                    | 5,612,782                                                                    | 6,308,695                                                                    | 4,066,920                                                                    |
| Sikkim                                                                       | 7,947                                                                        | 8,740                                                                        | 4,192                                                                        |
| Tamilnadu                                                                    | 2,825,095                                                                    | 3,217,546                                                                    | 2,213,206                                                                    |
| Telangana                                                                    | 946,294                                                                      | 1,068,557                                                                    | 656,963                                                                      |
| Tripura                                                                      | 178,996                                                                      | 251,335                                                                      | 109,094                                                                      |
| Uttar pradesh                                                                | 12,905,297                                                                   | 14,523,523                                                                   | 10,008,938                                                                   |
| Uttarakhand                                                                  | 367,375                                                                      | 400,186                                                                      | 276,112                                                                      |
| West bengal                                                                  | 7,024,110                                                                    | 8,747,828                                                                    | 4,911,618                                                                    |
| TOTAL                                                                        | 66,007,966                                                                   | 78,981,882                                                                   | 47,539,148                                                                   |

Annexure-2

| State/UT -wise, number ofPMUY Beneficiaries taken atleast 3 refills as closing of 31.05.2021   | State/UT -wise, number ofPMUY Beneficiaries taken atleast 3 refills as closing of 31.05.2021   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| State/UT                                                                                       | Number ofPMUY Customers taken atleast 3 refills                                                |
| Andaman &Nicobar                                                                               | 12,027                                                                                         |
| Andhra Pradesh                                                                                 | 386,288                                                                                        |
| Arunachal Pradesh                                                                              | 43,655                                                                                         |
| Assam                                                                                          | 3,325,521                                                                                      |
| Bihar                                                                                          | 8,370,994                                                                                      |
| Chandigarh                                                                                     | 74                                                                                             |
| Chhattisgarh                                                                                   | 2,607,439                                                                                      |
| Dadra Nagar-Haveli Daman &Diu                                                                  | 15,117                                                                                         |
| Delhi                                                                                          | 74,147                                                                                         |
| Goa                                                                                            | 1,062                                                                                          |
| Gujarat                                                                                        | 2,833,165                                                                                      |
| Haryana                                                                                        | 710,940                                                                                        |
| Himachal Pradesh                                                                               | 127,910                                                                                        |
| Jammu &Kashmir                                                                                 | 1,196,296                                                                                      |
| Jharkhand                                                                                      | 3,117,906                                                                                      |
| Karnataka                                                                                      | 3,001,833                                                                                      |
| Kerala                                                                                         | 241,754                                                                                        |
| Ladakh                                                                                         | 10,998                                                                                         |
| Lakshadweep                                                                                    | 285                                                                                            |
| Madhya Pradesh                                                                                 | 6,779,765                                                                                      |
| Maharashtra                                                                                    | 4,270,433                                                                                      |
| Manipur                                                                                        | 154,498                                                                                        |
| Meghalaya                                                                                      | 147,915                                                                                        |
| Mizoram                                                                                        | 27,311                                                                                         |
| Nagaland                                                                                       | 51,596                                                                                         |
| Odisha                                                                                         | 4,541,462                                                                                      |
| Puducherry                                                                                     | 13,504                                                                                         |
| Punjab                                                                                         | 1,107,055                                                                                      |
| Rajasthan                                                                                      | 6,182,280                                                                                      |
| Sikkim                                                                                         | 8,639                                                                                          |
| Tamil Nadu                                                                                     | 3,069,735                                                                                      |
| Telangana                                                                                      | 1,059,097                                                                                      |
| Tripura                                                                                        | 252,520                                                                                        |
| Uttar Pradesh                                                                                  | 14,304,414                                                                                     |
| Uttarakhand                                                                                    | 398,359                                                                                        |
| West Bengal                                                                                    | 8,665,791                                                                                      |
| TOTAL                                                                                          | 77,111,785                                                                                     |