The order on cooking gas, issued on Tuesday, comes close on the heels
of exemption to fishermen from paying market price for diesel. The
ministry last week announced that fishermen would be treated as
individual consumers and could buy fuel for their vessels at subsidized
rates charged at petrol pumps.
Till now non-domestic exempt category - called NDEC in industry
parlance - consumers in Delhi paid Rs 1,108 for a 14.2-kg cylinder. They
would now pay Rs 410.50, which is the rate domestic consumers pay for a
refill till the annual six-cylinder cap on subsidized refills. Because
the cap will also apply to NDEC consumers, they would now pay Rs 942 for
a cylinder ordered beyond the cap, just like domestic consumers.
Commercial cylinders of 19 kg cost Rs 1,555 in Delhi.
As is seen from the price differential, the latest order on cooking gas
would bring relief to NDEC consumers. It would also ease pressure for
additional funds from within the sections of the government to meet
higher cost of mid-day meal schemes and kitchen bills of paramilitary
forces.
But industry watchers said the exemption would also dent the
government's efforts at pruning fuel subsidy bill. "The government in
its wisdom had created this slab of consumers to shave subsidy without
hurting too much the activities that are not purely commercial and
largely for welfare. But the government would now have to pay subsidy
for cylinders supplied to them as well," one analyst said.
While putting the annual cap on the number of subsidized refills - six
refills that is to go up to nine from April 1 — for each household last
September, the government had created four categories of consumers -
domestic subsidized, domestic non-subsidized, non-domestic exempt
category and commercial.
