The government has limited the subsidy on cooking gas LPG to only 9 crore poor women and other recipients who received free connections under the Ujjwala scheme, with the rest of the customers, including homes, paying market rates. At a press conference, Oil Secretary Pankaj Jain revealed that no subsidy on cooking gas has been paid since June 2020, and that the only subsidy offered is the one announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on March 21.
Sitharaman had while announcing a cut in excise duty on petrol by a record Rs 8 per litre and that on diesel by Rs 6, stated that Ujjwala scheme beneficiaries will get Rs 200 per cylinder subsidy for 12 bottles in a year to help ease some of the burden arising from cooking gas rates rising to record levels. A 14.2-kg LPG cylinder costs Rs 1,003 in the national capital.
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries will get Rs 200 subsidy directly in their bank account and the effective price for them would be Rs 803 per 14.2-kg cylinder. For the rest, it will cost Rs 1,003 in Delhi. The Rs 200 subsidy will cost the government Rs 6,100 crore, she had said.
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