The price of domestic cooking gas (LPG) was increased by ₹29 per 14.2 kg cylinder on 7 June 2026. This is the second hike in just three months, after the ₹60 hike announced in March.
The current pricing of a standard cylinder in the capital is ₹942, which is a hike from ₹913. In Kolkata it is ₹968, which is up from ₹939. For beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), the price is still ₹642 per cylinder and the government provides a subsidy of ₹300 per refill. However, subsidies for the refills are limited (PMUY recipients will get the subsidy on the first four refills in each year, as opposed to nine last year).
Why the Hike? Government Cites Global Crisis. The government has attributed the price hike to a sharp surge in international energy prices driven by the ongoing West Asia conflict. Disruptions near the strategic Strait of Hormuz (which is the crossing point through which about 54% of India's LPG imports pass) have sent global benchmark prices soaring.
From February to June 2026, the Saudi Contract Price (CP), the international benchmark for LPG, soared by nearly 46% from $543 per tonne to $790 per tonne. So, the actual cost of providing a domestic LPG cylinder has skyrocketed to over 1,600, far exceeding the current retail price.
The government has absorbed a substantial part of the increase to shield consumers from the impact of volatile global energy markets," the ministry said in a statement. Even after the ₹29 hike, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) continue to incur an under-recovery (loss) of nearly ₹700 on every domestic cylinder sold.
Political Backlash and Consumer Impact. Opposition parties have been critical of the price revision. Nationalist Congress Party (SP) President Sharad Pawar accused the Modi government of failing to control inflation and said that the ruling party will pay a political price for this at the right time. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) criticized the hike on social media, saying that it may be a “minor inconvenience” for the rich but that it is “ANOTHER BLOW to already stretched household budgets” for millions of families.
Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, the BJP leader, defended the move and said India has managed to keep price increases lower than most other countries in the face of the global crisis. But even with the price increase, Indian households pay a lot less for cooking gas than in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the US, and Australia, the government said.
The Bigger Picture
The cumulative under-recovery on domestic LPG sales has reached an estimated ₹60,000 crore in FY26, up sharply from ₹41,338 crore the previous year. To partially offset these losses, the Union Cabinet has approved a compensation of ₹30,000 crore for OMCs.
But in some households, electric appliances such as induction cooktops and rice cookers are a growing trend to cut back on LPG refills. With global energy markets still volatile and the West Asia crisis not making a dent in prices until the future, consumers will have to prepare for further price hikes in the months to come.
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