CII members pledge to give up their LPG subsidy

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) president Sumit Mazumder on Thursday appealed to the body's members to pledge to give up their LPG subsidies.

"The 'Give It Up' campaign is a novel way to strike at the conscience of the citizens. I appeal to CII members to pledge to give up their LPG subsidies", said Mazumder, while speaking at the CII national council meeting held here.

He also asserted that CII is committed to playing a key role for a more inclusive and equitable society and are happy to partner with government for such initiatives.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Government has been working towards effective targeting of subsidies and welfare measures for the benefit of the economically weaker sections.

As a step in this direction, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas launched the scheme 'PAHAL' on November 15 last year, encompassing more than 15 crore consumers spread across 676 districts of India, under which the LPG customers get subsidy directly transferred to their respective bank accounts.

After the Prime Minister appealed to the citizens to give up their LPG subsidies on a voluntary basis under the 'Give It Up' campaign for the benefit of the poor families, around 6.5 lakh consumers complied resulting in savings of about Rs 300 crore.