Cash transfers for LPG users by year-end

The DBT scheme on LPG was launched in 18 districts across the country on June 1 this year

The Centre is planning to launch the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme for all liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) customers in the country by the end of this year.

Addressing the media in Jaipur on Tuesday, Finance Minister P Chidambaram indicated all LPG consumers would get subsidy in banks accounts through DBT by the end of the year.

The DBT scheme in LPG was launched in 18 districts across the country on June 1 this year. Later, it covered one more district and would be applicable in 20 districts from August 1

According to petroleum ministry statistics, the scheme has completed 2.28 million transactions, covering 1.25 million households within a span of six weeks.

Chairing a review meeting of the entire scheme, petroleum minister M Veerappa Moily said, “After the launch of the scheme on June 1, within six weeks, we have been able to complete 2.28 million transactions, touching lives of 1.25 million LPG households amounting to Rs 91 crore.”     

The scheme covers 72 lakh consumers, 600 distributors, and 19 districts across India as of now. “Such a large direct cash transfer programme might not have been taken up so far anywhere in the world,” Moily added.

The petroleum ministry has asked the officials to visit the districts to get a first-hand feed back of the implementation.

Moily batted for improvement in implementation, by taking LPG seeding to at least 80 per cent from the current level of 65 per cent.

The government is looking to ramp up bank seeding from the current level of 36 per cent by the end of August, when the three-month grace period expires for those who do not have both, LPG consumer number and their bank account seeded with Aadhaar number.

In an effort to increase the seeding level, oil marketing companies have devised a reward mechanism to incentivise the LPG dealers to do the seeding in the LPG database expeditiously. Moily urged all stakeholders to work towards improving seeding.

The meeting was attended by petroleum ministry officials, representatives from Unique Identification Authority of India, petroleum secretary and oil marketing companies.