No Aadhaar link to LPG, cap hiked to 12; govt's subsidy burden to raise by Rs 5,000 crore

New Delhi: In the aftermath of the recent Supreme Court ruling that public services cannot be mandatorily linked to Aadhaar, and looking ahead to the Lok Sabha polls, the Centre on Thursday suspended operation of its 'game-changer' direct benefit transfer scheme for LPG, and raised the cap on subsidised LPG cylinders from nine to 12 a year.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had demanded a hike in the LPG cap at the recent AICC meeting, and the move is seen as an attempt by the Congress to hijack one of the BJP’s poll planks.

A hike in subsidised cylinders was part of the BJP manifesto for the Delhi elections. Under the DBT scheme, with Aadhaar-linked bank accounts, the government was to pay the LPG subsidy directly to citizens.

It was put on hold because many had complained they could not get the benefit in absence of either an Aadhaar card or an Aadhaar-linked bank account.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister.

Petroleum minister M. Veerappa Moily said the hike in quota of subsidised LPG to 12 cylinders would raise the government’s annual subsidy burden by Rs 5,000 crores in addition to the existing Rs 80,000 crores.

Households will now get one cylinder extra this financial year, in February-March. From the next financial year, starting April 1, they can get 12 cylinders, one a month, at subsidised rates.

A subsidised LPG cylinder now costs Rs 414 in Delhi while the market price, that consumers pay once they exceed the quota, is Rs 1,241.