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The Indian government has announced a significant increase in the subsidy amount provided to beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY). Union Minister Anurag Thakur confirmed this decision during a briefing on Cabinet decisions held on Wednesday.
Under the revised subsidy scheme, Ujjwala beneficiaries will now receive a subsidy of ₹300 per LPG cylinder, up from the previous ₹200 per cylinder. Currently, beneficiaries pay ₹703 per 14.2-kg cylinder, while the market price stands at ₹903. Following this decision by the Union Cabinet, beneficiaries will now pay ₹603 per cylinder, reducing their financial burden.
The move to enhance the subsidy for PMUY beneficiaries aligns with the government’s commitment to provide clean cooking fuel to economically disadvantaged households. In September, the Union Cabinet had approved the expansion of the PMUY, aiming to include an additional 75 lakh poor households in the program over three years. The estimated cost of this expansion is ₹1,650 crore.
The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was introduced by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MOPNG) in May 2016 as a flagship scheme. Its primary objective is to make clean cooking fuels like LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) accessible to rural and underserved households that were previously reliant on traditional cooking fuels such as firewood, coal, and cow-dung cakes.
The use of traditional cooking fuels not only had adverse health effects on rural women but also contributed to environmental degradation. In light of these concerns, the PMUY was launched on May 1, 2016, in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The decision to increase the subsidy for LPG cylinders is expected to provide significant relief to PMUY beneficiaries, making clean cooking fuel more affordable and promoting the use of environmentally friendly energy sources in rural households across India.
