Ujjwala LPG scheme: Subsidy on cooking gas cylinders extended for one year

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a subsidy of Rs 200 per 14.2 kg cylinder for up to 12 refills per year to be provided to the beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana(PMUY). As per the official records, there are are 9.59 crore PMUY beneficiaries as on March 1, 2023. 

The release mentioned that the total expenditure will be Rs 6,100 crore for financial year 2022-23 and Rs 7,680 crore for 2023-24. The subsidy gets credited directly to 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) are the companies who have already been providing this subsidy since May 22, 2022. 

“There has been a sharp increase in international prices of LPG due to various geopolitical reasons. It is important to shield PMUY beneficiaries from high LPG prices,” stated the release.  

The aim of the scheme is to ensure that PMUY consumers continue regular 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 further added. 

As per the official records, the 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, clarified the government.  

To make Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), a clean cooking fuel, available to rural and deprived poor households, Government launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Modi on May 1, 2016 to distribute 50 million LPG connections to women of Below Poverty Line families. A budgetary allocation of Rs 80 billion was made for the scheme. The scheme was replaced by the Ujjwala Yojana 2.0 in 2021.