19 lakh free LPG connections given in Gujarat by oil PSUs

Gujarat received over 19 lakh free cooking gas connections out of the total six crore given across the country since May 2016 under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), said officials Thursday.

To reach out to more number of beneficiaries living in rural areas, three oil PSUs - IOC, HPCL and BPCL - would appoint another 286 distributors in the state in the near future, said S S Lamba, Executive Director, Gujarat, Indian Oil, at a press meet here.

PMUY was launched on May 1, 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a target of releasing five crore LPG connections to women member of BPL households by March 2019 and additional 3 crore connections by March 2020.

"However, we have already crossed the five crore mark in August 2018, eight months ahead of the schedule. A total of six crore connections across the country were given till now," the Indian Oil official said.

"In Gujarat, 19.16 lakh beneficiaries have been provided with the LPG connections since the launch of the scheme," he said.

In Gujarat, oil PSUs are giving free LPG connections under PMUY through a network of over 800 distributors and this will be expanded, he said.

"To expand our reach, particularly in rural areas, we would appoint another 286 distributors in the next 6 to 8 months," said Lamba, who is also the state-level coordinator of oil marketing companies in Gujarat.

He said the total number of LPG connections in Gujarat now stood at 95.5 lakh, including 19.16 lakh given under PMUY.

To make LPG affordable to poor families, oil marketing companies recently introduced 5kg refill option instead of the standard 14.2 kg cylinder, said Lamba.

This is an important step to encourage beneficiaries to continue the use of LPG and give up firewood or other harmful substance for cooking, he said.

Lamba said, "87 per cent of PMUY beneficiaries in Gujarat have comeback for the refill of LPG cylinder after getting their connection. The average per capita consumption is 4.13 cylinders per year in Gujarat.