The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved extension of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) with an additional provision of Rs 1,650 crore for providing additional 7.5 million deposit-free LPG connections over the next three years.”A targeted subsidy of Rs 200 per 14.2 kg LPG cylinder for up to 12 refills per year is being provided to PMUY consumers. Without continuation of PMUY, eligible poor households may not be able to get their due benefit under the scheme,” the ministry of petroleum and natural gas said in a statement.
The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was started in May 2016 with an objective to provide clean cooking fuel to poor households across the country. Under PMUY, a deposit-free LPG connection is provided to adult women from poor households.”Till date, 96 million connections have been given under Ujjwala Yojana. Considering the demand, another 7.5 million free LPG connection will be given to benefit poor and needy women. Most of them are dependent on wood and coal, which hurts the health of women apart from polluting the environment,” information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur said at a press briefing.Some eligible households still do not have LPG connection.
This is due to multiple reasons – new households are formed every year as a result of rising population, marriages, migration, nuclearlisation of families, left over households, extremely remote locations etc. There is demand for 1.5 million PMUY connections as on 31 August 2023, the ministry said.”LPG connections to poor households will provide access to clean cooking fuel. It helps in addressing health problems caused by use of traditional sources of cooking fuel such as fire-wood, coal, cowdung etc. This will in turn enhance productivity of women, raise their quality of life by removing drudgery associated with collection of wood and insure them against non-availability of cooking fuel, at times,” it said.As per the existing modalities of Ujjawala 2.0, first refill and stove is given free with the connection, whose expense is borne by the oil marketing companies and they are later reimbursed by the central government.
Beneficiaries can have 14.2 kg single bottle connection (cost for which is Rs 2,200 per connection), 5 kg double bottle connection (`2,200) or 5 kg single bottle connection (Rs 1,300). The new connections will be released over three years till fiscal 2025-26.PMUY has been widely praised as a successful social welfare scheme which has majorly contributed to increase in LPG penetration in the country from 62% in 2016 to near saturation now, it added.”Several world bodies like World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Energy Agency (IEA) have noted that Ujjwala Yojana has changed the lives of women, improved their health and protected the environment,” Thakur said.
Late last month, the government reduced the price of domestic cooking gas (14.2 kg bottle) by `200 per cylinder benefiting all 330 million domestic consumers. For 96 million Ujjwala beneficiaries, it became a benefit of `400 due to the existing subsidy of `200 per cylinder.While the government has not clarified whether it will compensate the state-owned OMCs for the price cut, industry executives believe the government will eventually cover the losses as it has been doing for the subsidy given to Ujjwala beneficiaries.
The government had provided a grant of Rs 22,000 crore to the three OMCs last year as compensation for selling LPG at a loss for the previous two years. LPG is the primary source of energy for nearly 50% of rural households and about 90% of urban households across India, as per the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). The Cabinet also approved the third phase of eCourts Project as a central sector scheme with a financial outlay of Rs 7,210 crore to be implemented over four years.