Cabinet extends ₹300 cooking gas subsidy for another year
NEW DELHI : The Union cabinet on Thursday approved the extension of the ₹300-subsidy on cooking gas cylinders for beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana scheme for the next financial year (FY25). The subsidy was to end this fiscal year. The extension would lead to an outgo of ₹12,000 crore for the government.
"The Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the continuation of targeted subsidy of ₹300 per 14.2 kg cylinder (and proportionately pro-rated for 5 kg cylinder) for up to 12 refills per year to be provided to the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) during FY 2024-25," the government said in a statement. As on 1 March, the PMUY scheme had about 102.7 million beneficiaries availing the subsidy, which is credited directly to their bank accounts. The extension of the welfare scheme comes ahead of the general election that’s expected to be conducted in April-May.
On 5 January, Mint had reported that the scheme may be extended for another year with an outgo of ₹10,000-12,000 crore. In October, the subsidy was increased from ₹200 to ₹300 per cylinder for up to 12 cylinders annually. A price cut of ₹200 per cylinder had been announced earlier, on 30 August 2023.
In New Delhi, PMUY beneficiaries now pay ₹603 per domestic cylinder of cooking gas, while others pay ₹903. PMUY was rolled out in 2016 to provide cleaner cooking fuel to poor households. The beneficiaries were identified through the socio-economic caste census list or from seven other identified categories such as scheduled caste households, scheduled tribe households, most backward classes, and beneficiaries of the PM Awas Yojana (Gramin) scheme.
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