THE ASIAN INDEPENDENT UK
Bal Ram Sampla
Geopolitics
Every few months, when cooking gas prices rise in India, the government reaches for the same playbook: release a statement claiming Indian LPG is among the cheapest in the world. It sounds reassuring. It is designed to. But look closely at the numbers, and the reassurance falls apart.
The “World’s Cheapest” Claim
When the Ministry of Petroleum recently defended a ₹29 per cylinder price hike, it pointed to countries like the US, Australia, and Canada — wealthy nations where citizens earn ten times the average Indian salary. Comparing a Delhi housewife’s gas bill to an Australian household’s is not an honest comparison. It is a carefully chosen one.
The truth is that the world’s genuinely cheapest LPG is found in Algeria, Angola, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Azerbaijan, countries with massive oil and gas reserves that heavily subsidize their citizens. India is not in the global top ten. Not even close.
The Numbers Game
The government says it loses ₹700 on every cylinder — implying generosity. What it doesn’t loudly say is that domestic LPG prices have risen by ₹89 in just the past year. For a family refilling every month, that is a significant and growing burden on a fixed or daily-wage income.
When LPG prices are adjusted for what ordinary Indians actually earn , a measure economists call Purchasing Power Parity, India’s cooking gas is among the most expensive in the world. A Gulf oil worker and a construction worker in Bihar are not equally equipped to absorb the same cylinder price. The government’s comparisons never mention this.
The Ujjwala Promise vs. Reality
The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana was genuinely ambitious. Giving free LPG connections to over ten crore poor households, many of them Dalit and tribal families, was a real step. The government deserves credit for the reach.
But a connection is not the same as affordable cooking gas. Study after study has found that a large share of Ujjwala beneficiaries buy far fewer refills than urban households — not because they prefer firewood, but because even the subsidized refill price of ₹642 is unaffordable when daily income is under ₹400. The scheme gave the poor a stove they often cannot afford to use. The government counts the connections. It rarely talks about the refill rates.
The Pattern of Spin
This is not an isolated case. The same tactic appears repeatedly. When internet prices rose, officials said India has the world’s cheapest mobile data, true in raw per-gigabyte cost, but misleading when Indian data speeds and network quality are considered. When fuel prices hit record highs, the government pointed to European petrol prices after the Ukraine war.
The pattern is consistent: find a comparison that flatters, repeat it loudly, and let the headline do the work. By the time the nuance is explained, the news cycle has moved on.
Conclusion
Honest governance would say: global energy prices have risen sharply, we are absorbing significant losses, but we cannot fully protect you from these increases. That would be difficult to hear. It would also be true.
Instead, the government offers a comparison designed to make a price hike feel like a gift. It points at Algeria without mentioning Algeria sits on the world’s largest natural gas reserves. It points at America without mentioning American salaries.
Spin is not the same as lying. But when it is directed at the poorest citizens
They deserve accurate information, not carefully constructed reassurance.
The gas cylinder is not the cheapest in the world. The poor know this every time they reach for their wallet. They deserve a government that admits it too.
Source:
1.https://x.com/i/status/2063584367734034742
2.https://businessday.ng/news/article/top-10-countries-where-cooking-gas-costs-the-least-in-2025/
3.https://www.thestatesman.com/india/india-keeps-lpg-cylinder-price-among-worlds-cheapest-despite-rs-1600-supply-cost-and-rs-700-loss-on-every-refill-amid-global-crisis-1503602793.html
4.https://kolaking.substack.com/p/cost-of-cooking-gas-rises-as-high
5.https://gulfnew -at-all-time-high-1.82765394
