Govt beckons private sector to be part of Ujjwala Yojana

Saudi Aramco may become first private player to be part of PMUY Plus

The Narendra Modi-led government’s flagship programme, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), is set to get an image makeover, with the participation of private corporates and other individuals through a scheme called PMUY Plus.

The Rs 8,000-crore PMUY was launched on May 1 this year to provide 50 million free LPG (liquefied petroleum gas ) connections in the name of women members of poor households. Spearheaded by Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, a lot of private companies and individuals have shown interest to be part of this initiatives. Following this, Pradhan initiated the concept of PMUY Plus through which private parties can pay for the subsidy of below poverty line families. According to the plan, the three oil marketing companies (OMCs) — Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation —  will form a society to run this programme.

This society will be having a common account, which will manage the contributions given by private companies and individuals. According to industry sources, Saudi Aramco has shown interest to be part of the programme under its global corporate social responsibility initiatives.  Among the individuals who have already contributed to PMUY Plus include  Minister of State for Tourism and Culture Mahesh Sharma, who offered his one month salary for the scheme. The scheme is followed by the success of “Give it Up”  campaign launched by the ministry of petroleum and natural gas through which about 10.5 million people gave up their LPG subsidy.

Those who gave up the subsidy were given a thanking letter from the prime minister. Impressed by the government gesture, a lot of individuals have already given their contributions to the PMUY scheme.

Till last week, about 7.8 million connections were given under PMUY scheme in more than 15 states — including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand.  According to the petroleum ministry data, OMCs added 16 million consumers in 2014-15 and 20 million in 2015-16.

During the current financial year, the government has already added more than 11 million customers, according to industry sources, gathering impetus from PMUY scheme.

Through the massive de-duplication exercise, the government was successful in cutting 69 million illegal LPG connections in the past two years. Under PMUY, the government pays OMCs about Rs 1,600 for each LPG connection given to a below poverty line household.

India currently has 172.5 million LPG connections, of which 159 million are eligible for subsidy.

The government has saved about Rs 21,000 crore in the past two years through direct benefit transfer. In 2014-15, when the average subsidy per cylinder was Rs 369.72, the government saved Rs 14,818 crore on this and in 2015-16, when the average subsidy was Rs 150.82 per cylinder, it saved Rs 6,443 crore.

NEW INITIATIVE

• Under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) Plus, private parties can pay for the subsidy for LPG connections of below poverty line families
   
• The three oil marketing companies (OMCs) — Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation —  will form a society to run this programme
   
• According to the petroleum ministry data, OMCs added 16 million consumers in 2014-15 and 20 million in 2015-16