Commercial LPG price slashed by Rs 91.5/cylinder; ATF rates cut marginally
New Delhi(PTI): 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.
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Melinda French Gates resigns as Gates Foundation co-chair, 3 years after her divorce from Bill Gates
New York, May 13: Melinda French Gates will step down as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the nonprofit she and her ex-husband Bill Gates founded and built into one of the world's largest philanthropic organisations over the past 20 years.
“This is not a decision I came to lightly,” French Gates posted on the X platform on Monday. “I am immensely proud of the foundation that Bill and I built together and of the extraordinary work it is doing to address inequities around the world.”
She praised the foundation's CEO, Mark Suzman, and the foundation's board of trustees, which was significantly expanded after the couple announced their divorce in May 2021.
“The time is right for me to move forward into the next chapter of my philanthropy,” French Gates wrote in her statement. She organises some of her investments and philanthropic gifts through her organisation, Pivotal Ventures, which is not a nonprofit.
Bill Gates thanked French Gates for her “critical” contributions to the foundations in a statement, saying, “I am sorry to see her leave, but I am sure she will have a huge impact in her future philanthropic work.”
French Gates will receive $12.5 billion as part of her agreement with Gates, which she said would commit to future work focused on women and families.
The Gates Foundation did not immediately return a request for comment about whether those assets would come from the foundation itself. In an emailed statement, the foundation said that Suzman announced the decision to employees on Monday.
“After a difficult few years watching women's rights rolled back in the US and around the world, she wants to use this next chapter to focus specifically on altering that trajectory,” Suzman said of French Gates.
Suzman said he knew many had joined the foundation in part because of their admiration for her advocacy, especially around gender equity.
“I know how beloved Melinda is here,” Suzman wrote.
The Gates Foundation holds $75.2 billion in its endowment as of December 2023, and announced in January, it planned to spend $8.6 billion through the course of its work in 2024.
The Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage in Africa from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and for news coverage of women in the workforce from Pivotal Ventures.
