Ujjwala Scheme: Rs 200 Subsidy per Cylinder to be Extended One More YearThe 2023-2024 Union Budget is set to extended the Rs 200 per cooking gas cylinder subsidy for 12 cylinders per year under Ujjwala Scheme for one more fiscal year. The budget may also extended the Ujjwala scheme beyond March 2023 to take domestic cooking gas to uncovered areas in states and attain the goal of 100% Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) coverage.
Note:
The government of India also plans to continue the scheme that provides a free LPG cylinder, Rs. 1,600 (USD 19.33), a free first refill and a free gas stove to women in families living below the poverty line.
Key Points:
- The extension of the scheme for another fiscal aims to improve the penetration in north-east India.
- Meghalaya is the worst performer in India with an LPG coverage of 54.9%, followed by Tripura, Jharkhand and Gujarat.
- About Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana:
i.Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana – PMUY (Ujjwala scheme) was first launched on 1st May 2016 in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
ii.The scheme was introduced by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) as its flagship scheme.
iii.The objective of PMUY is to ensure that cooking fuel like LPG is available to the rural and deprived households which uses traditional cooking fuels such as firewood, coal, cow-dung cakes etc.
iv.The scheme aimed to release 8 Crore LPG connections to the deprived households by March 2022. The target was achieved on 7th December 2019.
v.Ujjwala 2.0 was launched on 10 August 2021 with an aim to reach the households missed out in the first phase.
vi.In May 2021, the government of India announced a Rs 200 subsidy of 12 cylinders per year to 90 million beneficiaries of the Ujjwala Scheme for FY23.