The government has declared the extension of Rs 300 subsidy per LPG cylinder for poor women enrolled in the Ujjwala Yojana. This subsidy will continue into the next fiscal year. The development comes at a time when the country is preparing for upcoming elections.
Last October, the government raised the subsidy on 14.2-kg cylinders from Rs 200 for up to 12 refills per year to Rs 300 per bottle. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has now decided to extend this subsidy to 2024-25.
The move, likely to benefit nearly 10 crore families, will cost the government Rs 12,000 crore.
To make Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), a clean cooking fuel, available to rural and deprived poor households, the government launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) in May 2016 to provide deposit-free LPG connections to adult women of poor households.
While the connection was provided for free, the beneficiaries had to purchase LPG refills at market price.
As fuel prices soared, the government in May 2022 provided a Rs 200 per cylinder subsidy to PMUY beneficiaries. This was increased to Rs 300 in October 2023.
Ahead of assembly elections in five states, including Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the government had in late August cut cooking gas prices by Rs 200 per cylinder. After this, the LPG cylinder price came down to Rs 903.
For Ujjwala beneficiaries, the price was Rs 603 after considering the Rs 300 per cylinder subsidy, which is directly paid into the bank accounts of connection holders.
The targeted support to PMUY consumers encourages them for continuous use of LPG.
The average LPG consumption of PMUY consumers increased 20 per cent from 3.01 refills in 2019-20 to 3.68 in 2021-22.
All PMUY beneficiaries are eligible for the targeted subsidy scheme.
(With Inputs From PTI)
