Why LPG price hikes when OMCs make huge profits? asks Manish Tewari

Congress MP Manish Tewari questioned the Centre over repeated LPG price hikes, citing that state-run Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have registered substantial profits, including a 130% jump in FY 2025-26.

Congress MP Manish Tewari on Sunday questioned the Centre over the repeated hikes in Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) prices despite state-run Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) reporting substantial profits.

In a post on X, Tewari shared a news article and alleged that the three state-run OMCs had registered a cumulative profit of Rs 77,280.65 crore in the financial year 2025-26, marking a 130 per cent increase compared to FY 2024-25.

Tewari Questions Soaring Profits Amidst Price Hikes

"WHY THE REPEATED LPG PRICE HIKE's WHEN OIL MARKETING COMPANIES ARE MAKING WHOPPING PROFITS? State-run Oil Marketing Companies ( OMC's) made whopping profits in FY 2025 -26. The Three OMC's made a cumulative profit of Rs.77,280.65 crores a 130% jump over FY 2024-25," the 'X' post from Manish Tewari said.

The Congress leader further claimed that the three OMCs recorded profits of Rs 19,470 crore during the fourth quarter of FY 2025-26 (January-March 2026), which he said was a 40 per cent rise over the corresponding period last year.

"Even in (Quarter 4, Jan -March 2026) Q-4 2025-26 when Isreal and US struck Iran the profit of the three OMC's was Rs 19,470 crores a 40% jump over the same period last year. When these OMC's have made super profits. why is the price of Petrol and Diesel and LPG being increased every day in a creeping manner ? Why has a domestic LPG cylinder been hiked by Rs 29 again after being increased by Rs 60 on March 7 th 2026," he said.

Intensifying his attack, Tewari questioned the government's policy saying, "While the OMC's are making hay, people are being crushed under a repressive pricing regime. Is this governance?."

LPG Price Hiked by Rs 29

This comes after the domestic LPG prices were hiked by Rs 29 per cylinder. The revised price has come into effect from Sunday.

Following the latest LPG price hike, the price of a 14.2-kg domestic LPG cylinder in Delhi has increased to Rs 942 from Rs 913.

The latest increase comes after oil companies raised LPG prices by Rs 60 per cylinder on March 7, following disruptions in global energy markets linked to the conflict in West Asia.

Government's Stance on LPG Availability

Meanwhile, on Thursday, addressing an inter-ministerial briefing, Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said that the government has taken several steps to ensure adequate LPG availability, including increasing domestic production and securing imports.

"As far as the under recovery on LPG domestic cooking cylinder is concerned, it is still in the range of almost 700 rupees," Sharma said while responding to media queries.

Sharma attributed the recent moderation in LPG demand to multiple factors, including lower consumption by commercial and industrial users, improved booking cycles and technology-led delivery authentication.

"There has been a reduction because our commercial and industrial LPG and the other reason is the booking period that we managed, I mean 25 days and 45 days. And the third reason is the DAC [Delivery Authentication Code] linked deliveries," she said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)