Govt will ‘pay the price’ for fuel cost hikes: Sharad Pawar; Fadnavis defends Centre

Mumbai/Kolhapur/Nagpur: A day after the cost of domestic LPG cylinder was raised by Rs 29—the second increase in three months —NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday warned govt that it will pay “the political price” for repeated fuel hikes.

The latest revision took the retail price in Mumbai to Rs 941.5 per cylinder.

“The Centre is hiking [fuel] prices frequently. It started with Rs 2, and now prices have reached this far. This hike has affected the livelihoods of the common people. The PM had initially said that he is keeping inflation under control, but it seems that administering the shock of increasing prices step-by-step may be his formula to bring inflation under control. The people in power will understand the political price of increasing prices of fuel and LPG at an appropriate time,” he told reporters in Kolhapur.

CM Devendra Fadnavis defended the Centre. He said the war had pushed up fuel prices globally and that India had largely managed to cushion its impact on citizens. “The whole world knows that because of the war situation, no country has remained untouched. The prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas have risen across countries, including India. Even then, our PM has made significant efforts to keep prices under control. We have seen prices fall in the past as well. When conditions improve and supply increases, prices will come down again,” he told reporters in Nagpur.

The latest hike in the price of domestic LPG came three months after the last hike of Rs 60 on March 7, a cumulative increase of Rs 89 per cylinder, squeezing monthly household budgets and raising concerns over affordability for regular users. A 19kg commercial cylinder is priced at Rs 3,067.5, while the 5kg cylinder stands at Rs 841, reflecting the wider impact of such increases across consumer categories.

Consumer groups said repeated hikes, even in small steps, translate into a significant burden over time, especially for families with limited savings and fixed incomes. (With inputs from Abhijeet Patil in Kolhapur & Abhishek Choudhari in Nagpur)