NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday cut the price of an LPG cylinder by Rs 100 for Ujjwala beneficiaries as it gets set to face voters in five states for assembly elections before the end of this calendar year. This is the second price cut in two months by the Centre. In August, it slashed the price of each cylinder by Rs 200 for all consumers.
An LPG cylinder for a Ujjwala beneficiary in Delhi will now cost Rs 603 while the non-subsidised price is Rs 1,103. Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana are slated to go to polls within the next couple of months.
Last month, the government extended the Ujjwala scheme to 75 lakh more consumers for over three years. With this addition, the total beneficiaries would come to 10.35 crore.“The Centre has approved an increase in subsidy amount for Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries from Rs 200 to Rs 300 per LPG cylinder. A lot of development work has been done for the welfare of women and the poor in the past nine years,” said Anurag Thakur, Union I&B minister.
According to Emkay Global, the move will cost the exchequer Rs 3,600 crore annually. Also, it won’t have any impact on oil marketing companies as the subsidy is directly given to the Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries by the government.