Subsidy on domestic LPG likely to be for BPL families only

In a move that will affect the middleclass families, the Andhra Pradesh government is planning to end the Rs 25 subsidy it has been extending on each domestic gas cylinder.

However, the subsidy will continue for the below poverty line families, according to civil supplies minister Jupalli Krishna Rao.

Speaking to the media here on Friday, he said the subsidy burden on domestic gas cylinders was to the tune of Rs 185 crore per annum after it absorbed the hike in price of cooking gas.

The government, from June 2008 to June 2009, paid Rs 50 per subsidy per cylinder. From June 2009, this has been reduced to Rs 25 per cylinder. The government has, so far, incurred a total subsidy of Rs 430 crore on LPG in the last two years, he said.

“We will launch bio-metric smart cards for giving ration through the public distribution scheme. This would ensure that only the poor are extended the subsidy,” Rao said, adding the government had so far issued white ration cards to over 20 million below poverty line families. It weeded out 1.8 million ration cards that were ineligible.

The government would also use the GPS system for tracking the movement of essential commodities and use RFID (radio-frequency identification).

It would implement the Unique Identification Authority of India system in Andhra Pradesh by integrating the iris and finger print biometric system, the minister said.