A worker unloads LPG cylinders from a truck.
| Photo Credit: PTI

The story so far: Data from the 2014-2015 ACCESS survey, conducted by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, found LPG’s cost to be the foremost barrier to its adoption and continued use in rural poor households. Thus, 750 million Indians primarily use solid cooking fuels — wood, dung, agricultural residues, coal, and charcoal — every day. Solid cooking fuels are associated with innumerable health hazards and socio-economic and environmental impacts.

Has the govt. pushed LPG use?

The Indian government has often placed a premium on the cooking fuels in rural households transitioning to LPG. The Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitrak scheme was launched in 2009 to increase LPG distribution in remote areas; nearly 45 million new LPG connections were thus established between 2010 and 2013. Direct benefit transfers for LPG under the ‘PAHAL’ scheme were initiated in 2015. In 2016, direct home-refill deliveries were implemented and the ‘Give it Up’ program enrolled around 10 million LPG consumers to voluntarily discontinue subsidies and transfer their accounts to below-poverty-line households. The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) followed, to install LPG connections in 80 million below-poverty-line households by 2020. The scheme also provides a subsidy of ₹200 for every 14.2-kg cylinder, which increased to ₹300 in October 2023.

Fast forward to 2022: of the 54 countries whose LPG prices were available, those in India were reportedly the highest, around ₹300/litre.

In 2023, a study done by the author and Amir Kumar Chhetri showed how local communities of the Jalpaiguri district in West Bengal depend on the forests for fuelwood. The landscape has highly degraded forest remnants in a mosaic of tea estates, human settlements, and agricultural land, thanks to a history of forest conversion and fragmentation.

Based on 40 focal group discussions in tea-estate labour colonies and in forest and revenue villages, the study found that residents in the area depend mainly on forests for fuelwood, for both household consumption and to sell. Roughly half of the 214 local shops in 10 markets used fuelwood; the shop-workers reported the cost of a commercial cylinder, ₹1,900, to be exorbitant. Around 38.5% of Jalpaiguri’s population is below the poverty line and most of them work in tea estates with a daily wage of ₹250. Against this backdrop, the persistent use of fuelwood as cooking fuel is unsurprising.

What are suitable alternatives?

While the act of collecting fuelwood gives the people cooking fuel, it also degrades the forest and forces people to risk adverse encounters with wild animals. Due to various government schemes, most households in Jalpaiguri have LPG connections but few refill the cylinder even twice a year. On introduction of the PMUY scheme, many households quickly switched to LPG from fuelwood, and reported that their cooking activities became fast and smokeless, they could forgo the need to rise early and the time and effort spent in collecting fuelwood. But the hike in the price of LPG rendered these advantages short-lived.

Devising locally acceptable, suitable, and sustainable alternatives to fuelwood is important to secure the forests, wildlife and locals’ livelihoods. Work is ongoing with the West Bengal Forest Department and Joint Forest Management Committees to help four villages acquire saplings of high fuelwood value on the conditions that they will be native species, prohibited from logging, unpalatable to elephants and will be maintained by locals. Alternatives like efficient cooking stoves, optimised shade tree density in tea plantations, and multi-stakeholder meetings for resource governance are also in the works.

What next?

Our findings suggest that the LPG price rise, especially over the last decade, could cause socio-ecological crises in places where there are no viable alternatives to fuelwood and socio-economic deprivation is common. Future governments must focus on making, and keeping, LPG affordable. At the same time, they also need to endeavour to free solid cooking fuels from socio-ecological endangerment, like, say, with a national policy on introducing smokeless cooking stoves that consume less fuelwood.

Priyanka Das is a fellow at the Coexistence Consortium.

Representational file image.
| Photo Credit: E. LAKSHMI NARAYANAN

In a move that is set to impact businesses and consumers, oil marketing companies (OMCs) have announced an increase in the prices of commercial LPG gas cylinders. Effective from November 1, the retail price of the 19 Kg commercial LPG gas cylinder in Delhi will see a hike of ₹101, bringing the new rate to ₹1,833 per cylinder, according to official sources.

This price revision follows a previous increase that occurred on October 1, when public sector OMCs raised the price of 19 KG commercial LPG gas cylinders by ₹209. As a result of this adjustment, the updated price in Delhi stands at ₹1,731.50, compared to the previous month’s rate of ₹1,522.50.

Similar increases were observed in other major cities, with Kolkata witnessing a hike to ₹1,839.50, Mumbai to ₹ 1,684.00, and Chennai to ₹1,898.00 for a 19 Kg commercial LPG cylinder. The rise in prices has left business owners, particularly shopkeepers and restaurateurs deeply concerned. Shopkeepers are now urging the government to take measures to control inflation and ease the financial burden on small businesses.

Monthly revisions for both commercial and domestic LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinders occur on the first day of each month, in line with government regulations and market dynamics. In August, OMCs had taken the opposite approach, slashing the prices of commercial LPG cylinders by ₹99.75, offering some relief to businesses and consumers. The increase in commercial LPG gas cylinder prices comes as a challenge for businesses already grappling with inflation, and it emphasizes the need for policy actions to stabilize prices and support small enterprises during these trying times.

Representational image of a worker unloading LPG cylinders
| Photo Credit: PICHUMANI K

The Centre has increased subsidy for cooking gas cylinders for poor to ₹300 per unit from ₹200 announced in August, Information Minister Anurag Thakur said on Wednesday.

In August, the government reduced the price by ₹200 on a 14.2-kg cooking gas cylinder sold to 330 million households to rein in inflation ahead of crucial State and general elections.

It was not immediately clear how much the government will have to spend for the enhanced subsidy on cooking gas. The government was previously estimated to spend about ₹11,600 crore towards cooking gas subsidy in the current fiscal year that ends on March 31.

High inflation and the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) are key issues for Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government ahead of elections in five States in the coming months and national elections in mid-2024.

India imports about 60% of its liquefied petroleum gas requirement, and LPG prices globally have surged over 300% since April 2020.

The central government on Tuesday slashed the price of a domestic LPG cylinder by ₹ 200. The union government has been facing criticism over rising inflation and its impact on households. 

Notably, the reduction in prices of the LPG cylinder has come ahead of the Assembly elections in five States and the Lok Sabha election scheduled in 2024.

Anurag Thakur, Minister for Information & Broadcasting,  said, “On the occasion of Raksha Bandhan and Onam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to reduce the price of domestic cylinders by ₹200. When we came in 2014, only 14.4 crore people had a cooking cylinder. Today, that figure has gone up to 33 crores, out of which 9 crore 60 lakh people have received Ujjwala gas cylinders. People availing Ujjwala gas yojna already get ₹ 200 subsidy…This is a gift from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the women of the country.”

मोदी सरकार का तोहफा!

200 रुपए सस्ता हुआ रसोई गैस सिलेंडर। pic.twitter.com/QcPwF9FLng

— BJP (@BJP4India) August 29, 2023

How much will a cylinder cost now?

Mr Thakur, in its official release, stated that the reduced prices will be effective from August 30. “The price of a 14.2 Kg LPG cylinder will be reduced by ₹ 200 in all markets across the country. In Delhi for instance, the decision will bring down the cost of a 14.2 Kg cylinder from the existing ₹ 1,103 per cylinder to a more affordable Rs 903 per cylinder,” read the official statement. 

The reduction in prices of LPG cylinders also applies to beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY). The price for PMUY beneficiaries will be ₹ 703. Earlier this year, in March, the Centre had extended a subsidy of ₹ 200 per LPG cylinder under the scheme. 

Earlier the price of a 14.2 Kg LPG cylinder in Kolkata was ₹ 1,129. Now, the rate has dropped to ₹ 929. In Mumbai, the LPG cylinder price has been reduced from ₹ 1,102.50 to ₹ 902.50. On the other hand, in Chennai, these cylinders are being sold for ₹ 918.50. Earlier the price of an LPG cylinder in Chennai was ₹ 1,118.50. 

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri said that the move is aimed at providing direct relief to families, while also supporting the central government’s larger goal of providing essential items at affordable prices. 

He said, “We understand the challenges faced by households in managing their budgets. The reduction in cooking gas prices is aimed at providing direct relief to families and individuals, while also supporting the Government’s larger goal of ensuring affordable access to essential items.”