New Delhi, May 9:  Amid false reports alleging the hike in LPG price in the recent months, the government on Tuesday clarified that there has been a fall of around Rs 100 in the retail selling price of LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) (non-subsidized price) at Delhi in the recent months.

In a press release, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has stated that the retail selling price of LPG (non-subsidized price) at Delhi has come down from Rs.747/- in the month of December 2017 to Rs.650.50/- in the month of May, 2018, a fall of Rs.96.50/-. This is the price at which a consumer purchases the cylinder refill and the subsidy gets transferred to his account.

To recall, each house in India is entitled to 12 LPG cylinders at subsidised rates in a year, which is called the subsidised LPG rates. Meanwhile, the requirements beyond that are to be purchased at market prices, which are known as non-subsidised LPG rates.

According to Indian Oil Corporation, the subsidised LPG cylinder costs Rs. 488.94 in Mumbai, Rs. 494.23 in Kolkata and Rs. 479.42 in Chennai whereas non-subsidised LPG prices are priced at Rs. 674, Rs. 623 and Rs. 663 per cylinder in Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, respectively. Reports inform that this revision marks the fifth reduction in LPG prices so far this year.

On Tuesday, Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said since May 2014, when the Narendra Modi-led Government came to power, the government has doubled the coverage of CGD networks to 94 Geographical Areas spread across 130 districts. Pradhan said natural gas is the fuel for the future and the need is to increase the share of Gas in India’s primary energy basket from current 6.5% to 15%.

Elaborating on this the Minister made it clear that till 2014, India had City Gas networks in 47 Geographical Areas across 73 districts. Through the 9th Bidding round, we are rolling out City Gas networks in another 86 GAs (Geographical Areas) covering 174 districts. After this round, India shall have CGD coverage in nearly 50% of the total 640 districts in the country and about 50% (61 Crore) of the population of the country.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 09, 2018 01:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).