[Stoves] LPG cost more than Rs 1000 per cylinder.

[Nikhil Desai]

Crispin:

Give me a break, please.

1. Some of the prices cited in Sujatha's post are before subsidies (Rs
950-1,000 per cylinder). The price after subsidy is about $0.50/kg for 12
monthly refills of 14.2 kg. No big deal. People choose how much they want
to cook, with what, or buy cooked foods.

2. The price increases are formulaic, though the government controls the
"unsubsidized" price through public sector distribution companies as well
as the subsidy level. There is no formula about subsidy - direct cash
transfer to the qualified beneficiaries' bank account, and I believe they
can spend it on something else if they feel like it. Some adjustments are
trivial.
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/lpg-price-hiked-by-over-rs-2-after-rise-in-dealers-commission-5439577/


3. Yes, prices differ according to location, usually due to distances from
the filling and storage facilities. Same as most things in life; when did
you stop shopping?

4. Subsidies come from government revenues, government oil companies, and
yes, even borrowing. Same as US or Canadian government expenditures. Taxing
and spending -  right or wrong - is the business of government, just as it
is of professors to get grants and pay research assistants, right or wrong.

5. I have an allergy to fuel tax and subsidy talk by people other than
responsible for annual budgeting for governments. (Yes, I have done that,
and advised for and against subsidies.) Simply put, there is no strict
meaning of subsidy, and how much, to whom, when, why, under what
conditions, is a matter of art and smarts. Market fundamentalism by others
reminds me of the climataliban. Oil and gas are taxed and subsidized;
always have been and will be. Case closed.

Kirk Smith might call LPG subsidy an investment in health or an incentive
for behavioral change. I would support the principle, though not
necessarily levels, conditions, forms. Public finance in the Indian energy
sector is not only a humongous mess, not entirely transparent, it is an
Achilles' heel of the glorious growth story.

For now, we can safely conclude that Indian LPG quotas and unsubsidized
prices would curtail Prof. Smith's fantasy of "no stacking" and that the
field is wide open to designers and marketers of alternative cooking
technologies including you. Just remember Up in Smoke (Caravan, 2015) and
GACC.

N




On Tue, Nov 20, 2018 at 10:46 PM Crispin Pemberton-Pigott <
crispinpigott at outlook.com> wrote:

> Dear Stovers:
> This is more about LPG subsidies in India (costing millions upon millions)
> while narry a cent is spent on solving the problem at the source.
> Sujatha mentions subsidies falling from the sky.  To someone who is
> ideologically possessed, subsidies do indeed descend from the sky, as do
> the rainbows and unicorns.
> I was surprised by the difference in the price depending on where you are.
> That surely leads to large trucks shipping things around for resale? In
> Senegal, all the small cheap cylinders left the country on gigantic trucks
> to make money in neighbouring states.
> Crispin
>
>
> From: Sujatha Srinivasan <sujatha at avajoka.com<mailto:sujatha at avajoka.com>>
>
> Populist policies - “subsidies don’t fall from the sky” -  how will this
> sustain? - nobody is asking this question right? And corporates who can
> fund the sector to actually “solve” the problem - are unable to or refuse
> to understand the realities - and remain influenced by populist speeches
> and lawless adventurers. :(:(
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: LPG New Rate <info at sm.progressingindia.com<mailto:
> info at sm.progressingindia.com>>
> Subject: LPG cost more than Rs 1000 per cylinder.
>


> LPG to cost more than Rs 1000 per Cylinder.
>


> Bad news for Indian middle-class as as the Centre’s Modi government has
> decided to increased the price of LPG cylinder for a second time this month.
>
> A subsidised 14.2 kg LPG cylinder is now sold at Rs 507.42 in the national
> capital, witnessing a hike of Rs 2.08.
>
> The revised rates for an LPG cylinder in Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai are
> Rs 971.50, Rs 913.50 and Rs 960.00 respectively.
>
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