On Friday, the Indian federal government decided to prolong the subsidy of Rs 200 on LPG cylinders provided under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) for another year. This decision was made in response to the escalating prices of petroleum products on the global market.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur made the announcement in this regard. The subsidy was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. Around 9.6 crore families will be benefitted from the move.
Thakur said the total expenditure will be Rs 6,100 crore for the financial year 2022-23 and Rs 7,680 crore for 2023-24. Notably, the subsidy is credited directly to the bank accounts of the eligible beneficiaries.
The union minister said it is important to shield PMUY beneficiaries from high LPG prices due to various geopolitical reasons. As per the official press releases, the targeted support to PMUY consumers encourages them for the continuous use of LPG.
According to the press release, "Ensuring continuous adoption and usage of LPG among PMUY beneficiaries is crucial to facilitate their complete transition to cleaner cooking fuel." It should be noted that as of March 1st of this year, there were 9.59 crore beneficiaries of PMUY.
The average LPG consumption of PMUY consumers has increased by 20 per cent in the past two years. In 2019-20, it was 3.01 refills and in 2021-22, it was 3.68 refills. The Centre launched the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in May 2016, to provide deposit-free LPG connections to adult women of poor households.
From March 1, the government increased the prices of domestic and commercial LPG cylinders. The price of a domestic LPG cylinder weighing 14.2 kg has been increased by Rs 50 in Delhi. With the revision, the rate of domestic LPG cylinders is now Rs 1103. A 19 kg commercial LPG cylinder was increased by Rs 350.50 With this, the commercial cylinder is now Rs 2119.50 in the national capital territory.