Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], June 7 (ANI): Reacting to the latest hike in domestic LPG prices, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday criticised the Centre, alleging that the burden of rising prices was being passed on to ordinary households while the wealthy remained unaffected.

In an 'X' post, the TMC said that a government that describes itself as a 'Vishwaguru' should be able to protect its citizens from repeated price shocks. The party also asserted that while the increase may be a 'minor inconvenience' for the affluent, it would significantly impact families already struggling with rising household expenses.

'29 more for a domestic LPG cylinder. This is the BJP model: when global crises emerge, the poor keep worrying while the rich keep thriving. A government that boasts of being a 'Vishwaguru' cannot shield its own citizens from repeated price shocks,' TMC said.

'Instead of planning ahead and protecting households, Narendra Modi's government keeps passing the burden onto ordinary families. For the rich, it's a minor inconvenience. For millions of families, it's ANOTHER BLOW to already stretched household budgets,' it added.

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.

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. (ANI)