Jet fuel price cut by 1.8%, non-subsidised LPG by Rs 23.50

MUMBAI: India has cut jet fuel price for the third consecutive month by reducing it almost 2% as appreciation of the rupee and reduction in international oil prices have made imports cheaper for fuel retailers.

While the price of subsidised cooking gas (LPG) remained unchanged, the price of non-subsidised LPG has been reduced by Rs 24 for every cylinder, such that a cylinder in Mumbai would be available for Rs 957. This is the fifth reduction since February in the price of the 14.2-kg LPG cylinders that consumers buy once they have exhausted the 12-cylinders they can buy at subsidised rates.

The cut in ATF price would benefit cashstrapped airlines, while the reduction in LPG prices would directly benefit consumers. The change in prices are effective from June 1, India’s largest fuel retailer Indian Oil Corporation said on its website. With the reduction, ATF would be priced at Rs 71,940 per kl in Mumbai from June 1, as against Rs 73,306.89 per kl earlier.

State-run fuel retailers, Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp, revise jet fuel prices on the first of every month based on the average international price in the previous month. Revenue losses on LPG exceed Rs 450 per cylinder in Delhi. When asked if the government may consider raising rates in an interview to ET, Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State (Independent), Ministry for Petroleum & Natural Gas, said that the ministry would be very cautious about its decisions, given how it’s closely linked to inflation.

"I am aware about the under-recovery (revenue loss). We have just come (to power). Price rise was a major challenge before the last government. It is the anger against price rise that led to a political change. We hope to look into all aspects of the oil economy, and skilfully balance consumers’ interest with economic interest," he told ET on Monday.