New Delhi

LPG cylinders, both Ujjwala and non-Ujjwala, will be Rs 50 dearer starting Tuesday, Minister Hardeep Puri announced on Monday at a press conference.

"The price per cylinder of LPG will increase by Rs 50. From Rs 500, it will go up to Rs 550 (for PMUY beneficiaries), and for others, it will go up from Rs 803 to Rs 853," the minister said.

"This is a step which we will review as we go along. We review these every 2-3 weeks," he added.

 The minister said the imposition of additional excise duties on petrol and diesel is intended to compensate the oil marketing companies for losses they have incurred earlier.

"The two rupee excise duty has been imposed by the finance ministry. It will not be passed on to the consumer. It will come into the general kitty, and it will be utilized for reimbursing the LPG losses of the same (oil marketing) company," the minister added.

According to a notification from the Department of Revenue, the central government has raised the excise duties on diesel and petrol by Rs 2 per litre, effective Tuesday.

Currently, the government charges excise duty of Rs 19.90 per litre on petrol. From Tuesday, it is going to be increased to Rs 21.90 a litre. Similarly, the current excise duty on diesel is Rs 15.80 per litre, and it will increase to Rs 17.80 per litre effective Tuesday.

Oil marketing companies have informed the Petroleum Ministry that retail prices of petrol and diesel will remain the same.

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Crude prices have softened over the past from over USD 70 per barrel to USD 63 per barrel on Monday, raising margins for the oil marketing companies (OMCs). This substantial decline in oil prices may have prompted the government to hike the excise duties on petrol and diesel.