New Delhi: In an attempt to provide relief to the poor amid rising cooking gas prices, the government on Wednesday hiked the subsidy paid to Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries to Rs 300 per liquefied petroleum gas or LPG cylinder from the current Rs 200. At present, the Ujjwala beneficiaries pay Rs 703 per 14.2-kg cylinder only as against the market price of Rs 903 per cylinder. After the government’s decision, they will now pay Rs 603. The move is expected to benefit around 9.6 crore families in the country.
Announcing the decision, Union information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur said that the government raised the subsidy provided to poor women, who got free cooking gas connections under the Ujjwala Yojana, to Rs 300 per cylinder as it looked to blunt opposition criticism of high fuel prices. “The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs raised the subsidy from Rs 200 per 14.2-kg cylinders for up to 12 refills per year to Rs 300 per bottle,” he said.
In order to rein in inflation ahead of the crucial assembly elections in five states, including Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and Lok Sabha elections, the government had reduced the price by Rs 200 on a 14.2-kilogram cooking gas cylinder in August this year. For the enhanced subsidy on cooking gas, the government did not disclose the current estimate how much to be spent for the scheme, but sources said it was estimated that about Rs 11,600 crore will be spent towards cooking gas subsidy in the current fiscal year that ends on March 31.
India imports about 60 per cent of its liquefied petroleum gas requirement, and LPG prices globally have surged over 300 per cent since April 2020. The government had in late August cut cooking gas price by Rs 200 per cylinder, and after this, LPG cylinder price came down to Rs 903. While for Ujjwala beneficiaries, the price was Rs 703 after considering the Rs 200 per cylinder subsidy, which is directly paid into the bank accounts of connection holders. After the increase in subsidy, a 14.2-kg LPG cylinder will now cost Rs 603 for Ujjwala beneficiaries.
It is also learnt that the targeted support to Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana or PMUY consumers encourages them for continuous use of LPG. All PMUY beneficiaries are eligible for the targeted subsidy. For 2022-23, Rs 6,100 crore was provided for the Ujjwala subsidy, which increased to Rs 7,680 crore in the current 2023-24 fiscal (April 2023 to March 2024).
The subsidy is credited directly to the bank accounts of eligible beneficiaries. The average LPG consumption of PMUY consumers increased 20 per cent from 3.01 refills in 2019-20 to 3.68 in 2021-22. To make LPG a clean cooking fuel, available to rural and deprived poor households, the government launched PMUY in May 2016 to provide deposit-free LPG connections to adult women of poor households.
