The price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has been raised by Rs 9.60 to Rs 95 per kilo, said All Pakistan LPG Distributors Association (APLPGDA). According to the chairman of APLPGDA in a statement issued here on Wednesday, the LPG producers including PARCO have increased the LPG price by Rs 9,594 per tons, which surged its retail rate by Rs.9.6 to Rs 95 per kilo in the city.
He said the price of 11.8-kg cylinder has been raised by Rs 113 to Rs 1035 and 45.4-kg cylinder by Rs 436 to Rs 3,976 in the city. Similarly, in Lahore, the LPG price is Rs 103 per kg, 11.8-kg cylinder at Rs 1108 and 45.4-kg cylinder at Rs 4266.
In Peshawar and FATA, the petroleum gas is now selling at Rs 108 and at Rs 112 per kg, respectively. Chairman of APLPGDA, Hadi also threatened to stop taking LPG load if the producers did not withdraw the recent hike within next ten days. He further said that the local producers are taking advantage of winter season as the share of local producers has been increased from 80 to 90 percent in the winter.
He said the association has also urged Petroleum Minister Syed Naveed Qamar to remove the monopoly of local producers by withdrawing 17 percent sales tax on its import. Moreover, he cited that the consumption of LPG in the winter has been escalated from 1900 tons to 2000 tons per day whereas local producers were still producing 1400 to 1500 tons per day, creating a hug gap of 500-ton between the demand and supply. He also alleged that the government is not paying heed to remove the cartelization of local producers and added that the government should draft price-fixing formula to provide maximum relief to the masses.-PR