From June 1 cooking gas or LPG consumers in 18 districts of the country will get Rs 435 credited in their bank accounts when they book an LPG cylinder from a bonafide gas agency as the government will roll out its direct benefit fuel transfer programme to bring down its fuel subsidy bill.
The 18 districts that have been selected for subsidy transfer have high Aadhaar or unique identification number penetration.
Initially, the scheme was to be rolled out in 20 districts initially but the launch in Mysore in Karnataka and Mandi in Himachal Pradesh has been put off by a month because of Assembly and Parliamentary bypolls.
Sources said after the launch of the scheme consumers in 18 districts, including North Goa and Pondicherry, will get Rs 435 in their bank accounts every time they book for an LPG refill.
These consumers then will have to buy cooking gas at market price which is double the Rs 410.50 rate for a 14.2-kg bottle in Delhi.
Officials said Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily will launch the scheme in Tumkur in his home state Karnataka on June 1, while Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Lakshmi Panabaka will simultaneously kickoff the scheme in Hyderabad, her home town.
Plans are afoot to roll out the scheme in the rest of the country by the end of the year but the government wants to assess the results of the rollout in the 18 districts first.
While as many as 89 per cent of the LPG consuming population in these districts have Aadhaar number government will give a three-month grace period to them to procure the UID number and seed it with their bank accounts where cash subsidy has to be transferred.
Three months after the scheme is rolled out, that is from September 1 those consumers with Aadhar and bank accounts linked to them will be eligible for gas subsidy the rest will need to buy the LPG cylinders at market rates.
The government hopes to save Rs 8,000 to 10,000 crore in LPG subsidy annually after the scheme is rolled out all over the country.
At present government or the state-run oil marketing companies lose Rs 439 per bottle or cylinder of LPG sold.