Govt raises LPG price for all classes; special excise duty on petrol, diesel

NEW DELHI: Govt on Monday raised the price of family LPG (liquefied petroleum fuel) for all classes, together with subsidised refills equipped to poor households beneath the ‘Ujjwala’ scheme, and elevated the special further excise duty (SAED) on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre — dashing hopes of a gas price reduce by siphoning a part of the positive factors from falling oil costs .
From Tuesday, Ujjwala households in Delhi should shell out Rs 553 for every 14.2-kg cylinder towards Rs 503, whereas normal class customers, who don’t get subsidy, pays Rs 853 towards the market price of Rs 1,028.50. Prices in different states will differ in accordance with prevalent tax charges. LPG costs have been final revised in March 2024 once they have been reduce by Rs 100 per cylinder.
Oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri defended the federal government’s strikes, saying they have been required in view of a Rs 41,338 crore gap within the oil advertising firms’ pockets left by rising benchmark charges in 2024-25 regardless of subsidy for 10.3 crore Ujjwala beneficiaries.

Assuring that Ujjwala customers will proceed to get subsidy, Puri mentioned the elevated refill costs are anticipated to yield Rs 5,000-7,000 crore to the state gas entrepreneurs for protecting under-recoveries on LPG within the present fiscal.
The larger SAED won’t make motor fuels costlier as positive factors from falling oil costs will offset the affect however yield about Rs 32,000 crore for the exchequer, which can be utilized to compensate the state gas retailers for losses on LPG. After the hike, SAED on petrol stands at Rs 13 per litre and Rs 10 on diesel.
According to ICRA’s Prashant Vashisht, advertising margins of oil firms will stay wholesome regardless of larger SAED, as crude is anticipated to stay depressed within the wake of Donald Trump’s tariff struggle.
No surprise, Puri held out hope of reduction, saying petrol and diesel costs can nonetheless be decreased if crude stays on the present low ranges. The govt had between Nov 2014 and Jan 2016, raised excise duty on petrol and diesel on 9 events to mop up positive factors from plummeting international oil costs.
The newest duty hike primarily sucks up a achieve of Rs 2 per litre within the base price of petrol and diesel that will have accrued to the businesses from Tuesday owing to sliding crude, which tumbled from $77 per barrel on March 31 to $63-64 — the bottom in 4 years — on Monday. By opting to tweak the SAED, the Centre has ensured it won’t should share the proceeds with the states, which might have been the case if had tinkered with the essential excise duty.