: Smokeless LPG bringing tears to eyes as prices rise 30% in one year #IndiaNEWS #Business New Delhi: Already battered by rising prices of essentials ranging from fruits and vegetables to edible oil

Smokeless LPG bringing tears to eyes as prices rise 30% in one year #IndiaNEWS #Business
New Delhi: Already battered by rising prices of essentials ranging from fruits and vegetables to edible oil and electricity, record high rates of cooking gas LPG have added to the woes of the common man, especially the lower strata.
LPG rates this week were hiked by Rs 50 per 14. 2-kg cylinder, taking the total increase in last one year to Rs 244 or 30 per cent.
Non-subsidised LPG the price that all households except the poor women beneficiaries of the Ujjwala scheme pay, is now at Rs 1,053 per 14. 2 kg cylinder. Ujjwala beneficiaries have to pay Rs 853.
LPG is smokeless but still it is bringing us tears, rued M Mallika, a 38-year-old homemaker in Tenali town of Andhra Pradesh.
In three months, the price has increased by Rs 150 per cylinder without taxes and overall it is about Rs 160. A cylinder is now Rs 1,075 (in Andhra Pradesh). It is certainly a heavy burden, she said.
Fuel rates vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT.
The increase in prices has particularly affected the lower income group such as housemaids, drivers, security guards, daily wagers, salesmen and waiters who earn between Rs 10,000 to 15,000 per month. The cooking fuel bill alone is around 10 per cent of their earnings.
Its quite difficult for us to afford cooking gas cylinders these days. Every month the price of domestic gas cylinders is hiked, making our home budget bill even more difficult to balance We are looking at alternate ways of cookingMaybe solar, maybe something else, said Nupur Dasgupta, an SBI employee and resident of Kolkatas Golpark area.
Swapna Mukherjee, a homemaker in Dumdum in Kolkata, said she was thinking of using a kerosene stove alongside cooking gas stoves to keep a check on her monthly expenses.
Our monthly expenses have gone up drastically and it is becoming tough. We require two gas cylinders in one month, but I think we will surrender one connection and start using kerosene again, she said.
Parki Mehra (40), a private school teacher from Ambala in Haryana, said the price hike of domestic LPG cylinders has impacted middle-class families like hers. The mother of two school-going children says her family has cut down on expenses on other non-essential items to manage the household budget.
Sandeep Kumar (38) from Hisar, who is employed in the private sector, said prices of fuel, cooking oil and other essential items were already high, and the increase in LPG rates has further added to the problems of the common people.
The father of two school-going girls said the government should reduce LPG cylinder and fuel prices to provide some relief to people.
Ajay Kumar (45), a Chandigarh resident who lost his private job last year amid the pandemic, says inflation has badly impacted the public.