LAHORE: After oil prices, the poor consumers are going to face another setback as Oil, and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has increased prices of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) by Rs 10 per kilogram (kg).
The domestic LPG cylinder prices have gone up by Rs 122 and commercial cylinder Rs 471 following the recent hike in LPG prices. The domestic cylinder will be available now at Rs 1863 and commercial cylinder at Rs 7168. The OGRA hiked LPG price by Rs 8870 per ton for LPG producers’ companies. The LPG price in international market jumped up to $574 against $536, causing an increase in domestic prices of LPG.
Chairman LPG Industries Association of Pakistan Irfan Khokhar in a statement said that the local production stood at 735,460 metric tons. In contrast, industry imported 473,900 metric tons to meet local requirements during the year 2020.
Annoyed with the levy tax and high rates of other taxes, and to provide cheap LPG to masses in the harsh winter season, the LPG Industries Association of Pakistan Chairman Irfan Khokhar has demanded the government to waive these taxes.
The LPG dealers Chairman stressed that the country is already facing a severe gas supply crisis as the shortfall has hit 9 million cubic feet. Khokhar said that “insane policies and the high number of taxes had negatively impacted the LPG industry”. The LPG distributors are paying over Rs.6 billion in taxes.
He said that it is being anticipated that the government is looking forward to imposing the levy tax on LPG import from Taftan border, saying that such illogical move would make the LPG dearer and far from the reach of the masses.
Irfan Khokhar said that the entire country was facing a gas shortfall. He said that faulty policy and taxes had affected the LPG industry. He demanded to remove taxes on the LPG industry to provide cheaper products to the poor.
