Subsidy given by public sector oil marketing company Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) to customers of domestic gas cylinders has come down to Rs 1,725.54 crore in the financial year 2020-21, which is the lowest in the last six years. . This information was obtained from information received under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. This disclosure has come at a time when the fuel prices in the country are at a high level due to the rise in international crude oil prices. This has increased the burden of inflation on the common man.
Neemuch’s RTI activist Chandrashekhar Gaur said on Monday that HPCL has informed him about domestic gas cylinders under the RTI Act. According to the details received from RTI, the subsidy given by HPCL to the customers of domestic gas cylinders is Rs 6,571.58 crore in the financial year 2019-20, Rs 9,337.50 crore in 2018-19, Rs 5,963.13 crore in 2017-18, Rs 4,044.30 crore in 2016-17. Rs and stood at Rs 5,088.74 crore in 2015-16.
Gaur had asked HPCL under the Right to Information that why the subsidy amount on domestic gas cylinders is decreasing and why the prices of petroleum fuels are increasing, then on behalf of the public sector oil marketing company it was said that these questions As such, the subject matter is outside the purview of the RTI Act under the relevant provisions.
The RTI activist also wanted to know from HPCL that how much profit does the oil marketing company make on the sale of 14.2 kg domestic gas cylinder? To this HPCL refused to share the information citing relevant provisions of the RTI Act and said, “It is a matter of commercial confidentiality and the larger public interest is not involved in sharing the requested information.”
