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The average per-capita consumption of cooking gas under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has improved to 3.8 cylinder refills on an annualised basis in April-October from 3.01 refills for 2019-20 (FY20) and 3.71 in FY23, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri informed the Parliament on Monday. The minister also said that the government’s measures to keep the fuel affordable for poor households have been effective in keeping its price cheaper than in neighbouring countries like Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The PMUY was launched in 2016 to provide poor households access to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as a cooking fuel and discourage the use of traditional kitchen fuels like firewood and cow dung cakes, which are more polluting and pose health hazards. Over the years, the PMUY has emerged as a key welfare scheme of the Narendra Modi government.
“While a total of 3.09 crore PMUY consumers took refills in 2017-18, the number of PMUY beneficiaries taking refills has gone up to 8.41 crore in 2022-23. More than 100.85 crore refills have been taken by PMUY beneficiaries in the last 3 years alone. Per capita consumption of PMUY beneficiaries has increased from 3.01 refills per annum (in terms of 14.2-kg refill) during FY2019-20, to 3.71 Refills/annum during FY2022-23 and further to 3.8 refills in 2023-24 (till October 2023),” Puri informed the Rajya Sabha.
It is worth noting that the number of LPG refills taken by non-PMUY domestic LPG consumers in FY23 stood at 6.65. Therefore, while the per-capita LPG consumption by PMUY beneficiaries has registered a growth in recent years, it still trails the average consumption levels of non-PMUY households.
In terms of affordability, the minister said that the government has been modulating the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for domestic consumers in a bid to shield them from high price volatility in the international market. Prices of various fuels, including LPG, had shot up in the international market following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Prices of petroleum fuels in India are benchmarked to international benchmarks. Public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) incurred heavy losses on fuel sales as they kept retail prices stable despite extreme volatility internationally.
“India imports more than 60% of its domestic LPG consumption. Price of LPG in the country is linked to its price in the international market. Government continues to modulate the effective price to consumer for domestic LPG. During the period 2020-21 to 2022-23, the average Saudi CP (international benchmark for LPG pricing) went up from $415 per MT (metric tonne) to $712 per MT. However, the increase in the international prices was not fully passed on to the customers,” Puri said.
The price of a 14.2-kg LPG cylinder for an PMUY beneficiary in India is priced at Rs 603 in Delhi. For non-PMUY domestic consumers, it is priced at Rs 903. According to data provided by the minister, an LPG cylinder is priced at Rs 1,059.46 rupees in Pakistan, Rs 1,032.35 in Sri Lanka, and Rs 1,198.56 in Nepal.
The LPG consumer base in the country has grown to around 33 crore from 14 crore in 2014, Puri said. Of these, close to 10 crore connections are under the PMUY.
Late August, the government announced a Rs 200-per-cylinder price cut in LPG prices for all domestic consumers, and decided to expand the PMUY net by approving an additional 75 lakh connections. For PMUY consumers, the price cut was over and above the subsidy of Rs 200 per cylinder (for up to 12 cylinders a year) that was already in place, taking the total relief for poor households to Rs 400 per cylinder. Early October, the government hiked the subsidy for PMUY consumers by Rs 100 to Rs 300 per cylinder.
Last year, the government had also provided a one-time grant of Rs 22,000 crore to the OMCs to compensate them for losses incurred by them for selling LPG at a loss. The government had stopped providing LPG subsidy to non-PMUY consumers in the early months of the 2020-21 fiscal.
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