A post is being shared widely on social media with a claim that the LPG prices during 2011-2014 (under the UPA regime) were much higher than the recent times. The LPG prices from 2011 to 2021 are listed in the post. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: LPG prices during 2011-2014 (under the UPA regime) were much higher than the recent times.
Fact: While the LPG prices listed in the post are true for ‘Non-subsidised 14Kg Indane Gas’ (Delhi), there are some inconsistencies in the given prices. Multiple factors affect LPG prices. One of the major factors is the International FOB price of LPG. The high LPG prices in the years 2013 and 2014 were mainly because of high FOB prices in those years. The post just lists the LPG prices but does not mention the international FOB prices, then and now. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When we searched for the LPG prices mentioned in the post, it was found that they show the prices of ‘Non-subsidised 14Kg Indane Gas’. Similar prices for the period December 2013 – February 2021 (for Delhi) can be found on the Indian Oil’ website. But there are inconsistences in the given prices. While the December prices are taken for the years – 2019, 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2013, the same reference was not taken for the year 2014. The January price (Rs. 1241) was taken for the year 2014 whereas the December 2014 price was just Rs 752. Also, the LPG price in December 2018 was Rs. 809.50, not Rs. 609 (as mentioned in the post).
In the Ready Reckoner (June 2018) document published by the ‘Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC)’, one can see the ‘Price build-up of domestic LPG at Delhi’. It can be observed that multiple factors affect LPG prices. One of the major factors is the FOB price (‘FOB (free on board) of LPG is the weighted average of Saudi Aramco contract price (CP) for butane (60%) & propane (40%) for previous month and also includes daily quotes of premium / discount (published by Platts Gaswire) averaged for the previous month’) of LPG. In an answer to a question in Lok Sabha (2018), the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas said – ‘The Government continues to modulate the effective price to consumer for Subsidized Domestic LPG. The prices of non-subsidized domestic LPG are however, determined by Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies in line with changes in international market. The prices of domestic LPG are based on international FOB prices of LPG and not of crude oil.’
The International FOB prices during 2012-2021 can be found in the Ready Reckoners (Nov-2014, Oct-2016, Nov-2017, Dec-2019, May-2020) and historical prices list given on the PPAC website. On looking at the prices, it can be observed that the FOB price of LPG was much higher in the years 2012-13 and 2013-14, when compared to the years during the NDA government. The high LPG prices in the years 2013 and 2014 were mainly because of high FOB prices in those years.
To sum it up, the post misleads people by just listing the LPG prices and not mentioning the international FOB prices of LPG, then and now.
