Hyderabad, May 1 (IANS) Telangana’s Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday slammed the Centre for a steep Rs 993 hike in the price of commercial LPG cylinders and demanded its immediate rollback.

In a statement, Uttam Kumar Reddy strongly criticised the Centre’s decision to increase the price of 19-kg commercial LPG cylinders by Rs 993. He described it as “very unfortunate” and a move that will burden small businesses, street vendors, hotels, restaurants, and ultimately the common man.

The minister accused the BJP-led Central government of “cheating the people of India” by timing the price rise strategically. “We have been telling right through that the BJP government is cheating the people of India. They were waiting for the polling to be over to raise the prices, and within 24 hours of West Bengal polling being over, they have raised the prices of commercial LPG by about 30-35 per cent by Rs 993,” he remarked.

The price revision, effective from May 1, has pushed the cost of a 19-kg commercial cylinder to over Rs 3,000 in most metropolitan cities — up from around Rs 2,000 earlier. In Delhi, for instance, it now stands at Rs 3,071.50. Oil marketing companies have attributed the hike to rising global energy prices linked to ongoing West Asia tensions, marking the third consecutive monthly increase.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said the hike — amounting to nearly 30-35 per cent — will have an immediate cascading effect on food prices across the street. “This will immediately have a cascading effect, and the cost of food prices on the street will go up and will affect the common man in a very big way,” he stated.

He noted that commercial LPG cylinders are widely used by hotels, cafes, restaurants, small businesses, and street vendors. “Now the cost of the commercial LPG cylinder, which was around 2,000 rupees in most metropolitan cities, is 3,000 rupees plus in most of the cities… very unfortunate,” he added.

The minister denounced the move strongly, saying the Congress has consistently warned against such policies. He demanded an immediate rollback of the hike to protect small traders and the common man from the inflationary impact.

–IANS

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