New Delhi: While an average household which uses only liquid petroleum gas or LPG for cooking requires at least six or seven cylinders per year, over half the beneficiaries of the Union government’s flagship scheme took four or fewer refills in 2021-22, Business Standard has reported.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had noted while presenting the Union Budget this year that the Union government had provided 96 million LPG cylinders under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana or PMUY.
The number, finds Business Standard is over 95.8 million, as on February 2, 2023. However, out of them, as many as 9.6% of the beneficiaries took no refills and 11.3% took only one. A total of 56.5% took only four refills or fewer in 2021-22.
Up to 12 refills a year are subsidised (at Rs 200 per 14.2 kg cylinder) by the government since a 2022 announcement.
The price of LPG cylinders and high transportation costs are largely blamed for waning interest in the scheme since it was launched in 2016.
The Wire had reported on the answers to an RTI application filed in 2022, which showed that 1790 million cylinders were sold to 305 million active LPG subscribers in India in the year 2021-22. However, there was a stark discrepancy between refills sought.
PMUY beneficiaries refilled cylinders at an average of 3.5 cylinders a year per consumer. On the other hand, non-PMUY consumers refilled cylinders at an average of seven cylinders a year per consumer.