Govt extends subsidy on cooking gas by a year at Rs 12,000 crore cost

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India imports about 60% of its liquefied petroleum gas requirement and LPG prices globally have surged more than 300% since April 2020

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the continuation of Rs 300 targeted subsidy to PM Ujjwala Yojana Consumers for 2024-25.

Talking to reporters after a meeting of the union cabinet, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters that the beneficiaries will get the subsidy directly in their accounts.

The total expenditure for 2024-25 is expected to be Rs 12,000 crore.

Goyal said the decision has come a day before the International Women’s Day.

The Union Cabinet had in September last year approved the extension of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana for release of 75 lakh LPG connections over three years from 2023-24 to 2025-26. Provisioning of 75 lakh additional Ujjwala connections will take the total number of PMUY beneficiaries to 10.35 crore.

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.

Watch: Cabinet briefing by Union Minister Piyush Goyal