New Delhi, April 1 (Reuters): Indian fuel retailers raised jet fuel and commercial liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices on Wednesday, following a sharp spike in global prices due to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
India, the world’s second-largest LPG importer, is battling its worst gas crisis in decades, with the government cutting supplies for industries to shield households from cooking gas shortages.
Domestic fuel retailers have raised prices of aviation turbine fuel by 8.6% to 104,927 rupees per kiloliter and commercial LPG by 10.4% to 2,078.50 rupees per 19-kilogram cylinder in New Delhi, the Indian Oil Corporation’s (IOC.NS), opens new tab website showed.
In order to insulate domestic travel costs from the substantial increase in international prices, state-owned oil marketing companies, in consultation with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, have passed only a “partial and staggered increase” to airlines, the ministry said in a post on social media.
The price increase in commercial cylinders is due to a 44% surge in the Middle Eastern benchmark Saudi Contract Price, as 20% to 30% of global LPG supplies are stuck in Strait of Hormuz, the ministry said.
The country consumed 33.15 million metric tons of LPG, or cooking gas, last year, with imports accounting for about 60% of the total. About 90% of those imports came from the Middle East.
The consumption of commercial cylinders, used by industries and hotels, is less than 10% of the total LPG consumed in the country and the prices are revised on a monthly basis, the ministry said.
The 14.2-kg domestic gas cylinder prices have been kept unchanged to protect domestic customers from the price surge, the ministry added.
To tackle the LPG crisis, India has increased domestic daily LPG production by 40% to 50,000 metric tons against a requirement of 80,000 tons and Indian companies have secured 800,000 tons of LPG cargoes from the U.S., Russia, Australia and other countries.
