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In a major relief to Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) beneficiaries, Union Cabinet on Friday approved a subsidy of Rs 200 per 14.2 kg cylinder for up to 12 refills per year.
The decision taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs was announced at a media briefing by Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur. The scheme has 9.59 crore beneficiaries as on March 1, 2023. The total expenditure will be Rs 6,100 crore for the financial year 2022-23 and Rs 7,680 crore for 2023-24. The CCEA meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The subsidy is credited directly to the bank accounts of the eligible beneficiaries. Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies namely Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) have already been providing this subsidy since May 22, 2022, an official release said. It said there has been a sharp increase in international prices of LPG due to various geopolitical reasons and it is important to shield PMUY beneficiaries from high LPG prices. "Targeted support to PMUY consumers encourages them for continuous usage of LPG. It is important to ensure sustained LPG adoption and usage among PMUY consumers so that they can completely switch to cleaner cooking fuel," the release said. It said average LPG consumption of PMUY consumers has increased by 20 percent from 3.01 refills in 2019-20 to 3.68 in 2021-22. All PMUY beneficiaries are eligible for this targeted subsidy. As part of efforts to make Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), a clean cooking fuel, available to the rural and deprived poor households, the government launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in May 2016 to provide deposit free LPG connections to adult women of poor households. (ANI)
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