The price of commercial LPG used in hotels and restaurants on Thursday was slashed by Rs 91.5 per cylinder on softening international prices, but oil companies have made no changes in rates of domestic cooking gas and rather began imposing limits on refills a user can order in a fortnight.

The price of a 19-kg commercial LPG cylinder was cut to Rs 1,885 per cylinder in the national capital from Rs 1,976.50, according to a price notification from state-owned fuel retailers.

This is in line with softening international prices.

However, rates of LPG used in household kitchens for cooking purposes remained unchanged at Rs 1,053 per 14.2-kg cylinder. This because the rates of domestic cooking gas were way lower than cost and now with a drop in international prices they are at breakeven, industry sources said.

Commercial LPG rates on the other hand have largely been aligned with cost and so they have moved in tandem with rise and fall in international rates. And this difference between a market-priced commercial LPG and below-cost household cooking gas had led to diversion of cylinders meant for kitchens into commercial establishments.

To check this, the state-owned oil firms have now started imposing limits on a 14.2-kg refill a household can order, they said.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has limited one refill in 15 days from August 26, and other retailers Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) are likely to follow suit.

Simultaneously, the rates of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) were cut marginally by 0.7 per cent.

Jet fuel price was cut by Rs 874.13 per kilolitre, or 0.7 per cent, to Rs 121,041.44 per kl in the national capital.

Rates differ from state to state depending on incidence of local taxes.

Windfall profit tax hiked

The government has hiked the windfall profit tax on the export of diesel to Rs 13.5 per litre and on jet fuel exports to Rs 9 a litre, besides raising the levy on domestically-produced crude oil in line with the hardening of global prices.

At the fourth fortnightly review, the government raised the windfall profit tax on the export of diesel to Rs 13.5 per litre from Rs 7 per litre. The tax on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) exports too has been hiked to Rs 9 from Rs 2 per litre with effect from September 1, according to a finance ministry notification issued late Wednesday night.

Alongside, the tax on domestically-produced crude oil too has been hiked to Rs 13,300 per tonne from Rs 13,000.