Tamil Nadu Congress chief criticises rise in commercial LPG prices

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president and Virudhunagar MP B. Manickam Tagore has criticised the Centre over an increase in commercial LPG cylinder prices. Tagore said the price of a 19-kilogram commercial LPG cylinder in Chennai had risen from ₹1,726.50 in June 2014 to ₹2,983 in October 2026.

He described this as a 72.78% increase during the Narendra Modi government. His comments came ahead of Navaratri and Ayudha Puja, when he said higher operating costs would place an additional burden on small businesses. He specifically referred to restaurants, tea shops and other traders that use commercial cylinders.

Tagore argued that the increase was particularly difficult for businesses during the festive season. The source material does not include a response from the Centre, oil companies or other government representatives to his criticism. The Congress leader also objected to proposed merchant discount rate charges on Unified Payments Interface transactions.

He said such charges could further affect small traders by increasing the cost of receiving digital payments. The comments form part of the Tamil Nadu Congress’s criticism of the Centre’s economic policies. Tagore presented the LPG price comparison as evidence of rising costs for commercial users, while linking the proposed UPI charges to the wider financial pressure on small businesses.

The report did not provide details of the proposed UPI charge, identify when it might take effect or state whether the proposal had been formally approved. It also did not indicate whether the LPG price increase applies uniformly across India or describe the current prices in other cities.