LPG subsidy: Only nine crore beneficiaries registered under the Ujjwala scheme will get gas subsidy. The remaining more than 21 crore gas connection holders will have to buy gas cylinders at market rates.
LPG subsidy: Government is giving LPG subsidy to only nine crore beneficiaries who get free LPG connection under Ujjwala scheme and other beneficiaries will have to take LPG cylinder at market rate. Petroleum Secretary Pankaj Jain said in a press conference on Thursday that no subsidy is being given on LPG since June 2020.
This announcement was made by the Finance Minister
Only on May 21, the announcement of giving subsidy to the beneficiaries of Ujjwala scheme by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is applicable. In addition to announcing reduction in excise duty on petrol and diesel, Sitharaman also announced a subsidy of Rs 200 per cylinder on 12 gas cylinders in a year to the beneficiaries of the Ujjwala scheme.
At present, the price of a LPG cylinder weighing 14.2 kg is Rs 1,003. But after the booking of each cylinder in the bank account of the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, the government will send a subsidy of Rs 200.
Only these people will get subsidy
In this way, the effective price of a cylinder for them will be Rs 803. However, only nine crore beneficiaries registered under the Ujjwala scheme will get gas subsidy. The remaining more than 21 crore gas connection holders will have to buy gas cylinders at market rates. In the same program,
Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the structure of subsidy is such that it is cut with time. “At the definition level, subsidies tend to decrease over time,” he said. The government has gradually abolished the subsidy on petrol, diesel and kerosene and no subsidy is being given on LPG as well since June 2020.
No official announcement on LPG subsidy
However, no official announcement has been made by the government to end the LPG subsidy. LPG cylinder has become costlier by Rs 103.50 in the last one year. In June 2021, its price was Rs 809. Puri said that despite the increase in the price of gas in the international market, its full burden is not being passed on to the gas consumers.
Along with this, he denied the report that the beneficiaries of the Ujjwala scheme are coming forward in small numbers to fill the first gas cylinder after it is over.
The number of consumers who filled only one gas cylinder in a year has come down from 1.81 crore in the year 2019-20 to 1.08 crore in 2021-22. Along with this, an average per capita consumption of 3.68 cylinders was done throughout the year.
