Centre raises cooking gas subsidy ahead of state, national elections

livemint.com:

NEW DELHI : The Union cabinet on Wednesday raised cooking gas subsidy from ₹200 to ₹300 per cylinder for about 96 million low-income households, a move coinciding with upcoming assembly elections in five states and next year’s national polls. Offering additional subsidies aimed at benefiting rural women comes barely a month after the government approved the expansion of the PM Ujjwala Yojana scheme to 7.5 million women to take the number of total beneficiaries to 103.5 million over the next three years.

Beneficiaries of the Ujjwala Yojana, who earlier paid ₹703 for a 14.2-kg bottle against the market price of ₹903, will now have to pay ₹603. The subsidy increase comes weeks after the central government reduced the cooking gas cylinder price by ₹200 for all consumers.

The move to provide additional subsidies on cooking gas and extend Ujjwala Yojana’s reach aims to support women ahead of crucial elections. During the recent special Parliament session, a law was passed to allocate one-third of parliamentary and assembly seats to women.

Anurag Thakur, minister of information and broadcasting, youth affairs and sports, who briefed reporters on cabinet decisions, did not specify the impact of the decision on the government’s finances but said, “When we talk about the welfare of the poor, the government is not concerned with the financial burden on the exchequer but (only) on helping the poor." The government has revamped the petroleum subsidy system over the years, with LPG being the only fuel on which subsidy is offered. In 2023-24, the government budgeted only ₹2,257 crore for LPG subsidy, which is sure to go up with the expanded coverage of the Ujjwala scheme and the higher subsidy payments.