Our Bureau
New Delhi
The Government has released an issue this Friday, on August 8th, stating that it has reduced the total number of subsidised liquified petroleum gas cylinders. These gas cylinders, provided under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) Scheme, are now reduced to 9 per year from the 12 that were provided earlier.
This news has come as a shocker to everyone as the government approved an outlay of Rs 12,060 crore for the scheme earlier for the current fiscal year. Now, the households that are eligible under this scheme will now receive a subsidy of Rs 300 per 14.2 kg cylinder and will be allowed nine refills every year. Those who are using 5 kg cylinders will get proportionately pro-rated support as per the reports.
The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) Scheme that was launched 9 years back in 2016 provides adult women from under-privileged households Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders free of cost. Then in the 2.0 version of the scheme, called Ujjwala 2.0, the first refill and stove are also provided free of cost.
The Government of India, in an attempt to shield Indian consumers from volatile global LPG prices with the country importing about 60% of its LPG, started offering the under-privileged class targeted subsidies in May 2022. The average per capita consumption by PMUY users has seen a surge going from three refills in 2019-20 to 3.68 in 2022-23 and further to 4.47 in fiscal year 2025.
With this decision, the cabinet has further approved a fund of Rs. 30,000 crore so that they reimburse oil market companies for the losses they suffered in their LPG sales. This compensation will allow the OMCs to continue meeting their critical requirements, such as crude and LPG procurement, servicing of debt and sustaining their capital expenditure.
