PM Modi's Ujjwala Yojana to get Rs 81 cr from DMF in Chhattisgarh

A sum of Rs 62 cr has already been released by the mineral body

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUJ) would be partly funded by the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) money in Chhattisgarh.

The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is one of the flagship schemes of the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. It first was launched in Uttar Pradesh on May 1, 2016. Under the scheme, the government aims at providing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections to below poverty line (BPL) households across the country. The scheme is aimed at enabling rural India to switch to clean energy. 

The state government had set a target to provide LPG connection to 1.5 million people in the financial year 2017-18 under the scheme. “Of the total target, around 600,000 connections would be funded by the DMF in the state’s mineral-rich districts,” said Subodh Kumar, Chhattisgarh’s mining secretary.

DMF has agreed to set aside Rs 81 crore for the scheme. Out of this total allotment, a sum of Rs 62 crore has already been released for the purpose, said Kumar.

Chhattisgarh is the first state in the country to have created DMF in all its 27 districts. In the last financial year, it earned Rs 4,141 crore from minerals alone. In 2003-04, the state’s revenue from minerals was stood at Rs 623 crore only.

Singh said a target had been set to spend Rs 2,500 crore on different welfare and infrastructure development projects in the mining districts by September 2018.