The Union Cabinet on Wednesday decided to extend the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) to 75 lakh more consumers by providing them LPG connections over three years from 2023-24 to 2025-26.
A meeting of the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also allocated ₹1,650 crore to implement the decision. The total number of beneficiaries under the scheme will now be 10.35 crore.
On August 29, the Union Petroleum Ministry, after announcing a ₹200 decrease in the prices of LPG cylinders, had said that to clear pending PMUY applications and to provide deposit free LPG connection to all eligible households, Government will shortly start distribution of PMUY connections to 75 lakh women from poor households who do not have an LPG connection.
Announcing the decision, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur stated that a subsidy of ₹200 per 14.2 kg LPG cylinder for up to 12 refills per year will be provided to PMUY consumers. The subsidy also includes ₹2,200 per connection (14.2 kg single bottle connection), and ₹1,300 per connection (5 kg single bottle connection).
The Centre also said that the national LPG coverage is now near saturation and number of bottling plants have increased to 208 from 186 in 2014. While number of LPG distributers in India grew to 25,386 in April this year from 13,896 in April, 2014, the Centre’s data claimed.
It added that the domestic active LPG customers in India is 3,140.33 lakh now and it was 1,451.76 lakh in 2014.
“The PMUY scheme has empowered women economically and socially. With easier access to LPG, women are no longer burdened with the task of collecting firewood or other traditional fuels, which often required long and laborious journeys,” the Centre said in a release.
