Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana: Govt mulls fourth expansion of LPG scheme

2.67 mn applications pending nationwide for induction into PMUY

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry has given its nod to a potential fourth expansion of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), said sources in the know.

More than 2.6 million applications are currently pending nationwide for induction into the scheme.

“LPG penetration in the country has reached near saturation levels, up from 62 per cent in April 2016 when the Ujjwala scheme was launched. However, there are still many applicants from economically distressed backgrounds. The government is looking to expand the PMUY to cover them,” an official source said.

PMUY was introduced in May 2016 as a flagship scheme with an objective to make clean cooking fuel such as LPG available to rural and deprived households.

As of July 1, there are 103.3 million PMUY beneficiaries in the country, making up almost a third of the 314 million households in India with LPG connection.

Of these, 20.3 million beneficiaries, or nearly 20 per cent, took more than 6 refills in 2023-24, government data shows.

In September 2023, the government had extended the PMUY till 2026, and announced that at least 7.5 million new connections will be given during the period.

Figures provided by the government to Parliament show that oil marketing companies (OMCs) have completed the release of these additional connections as part of the third expansion of the scheme by July.

Despite this, 2.67 million applications for being enrolled in the cooking gas subsidy scheme are pending nationwide, the ministry said in another answer to Parliament.

Of these, 56.5 per cent applications are from just one state, West Bengal.

The next largest state in terms of number of pending applications is Assam — with 189,000 applicants.

The government has said no timelines have been fixed with regard to accepting these applications.

“We are open to expanding the scheme, and this has been communicated to other ministries. The Finance Ministry will give a final nod to the matter,” a Petroleum Ministry official said.

Rising subsidy

In addition to the support of the Rs 2,200 per connection, the government provides the first refill and stove to new PMUY beneficiaries.

Since October 2023, PMUY has provided a targeted subsidy of Rs 300 per cylinder refill, up to 12 refills in a year.

The subsidy amount was increased from the earlier Rs 200 in place from May 2022.

As a result, cost to the exchequer for the PMUY scheme has risen to Rs 13,000 crore in FY25. This is up from Rs 7,680 crore in FY24, and Rs 6,180 crore in FY23.

On the other hand, expanding nationwide city gas distribution coverage is part of the government’s target of raising India’s share of natural gas in its energy basket to 15 per cent by 2030. This is up from the current 6.8 per cent.

Earlier this year, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) finished rolling out licenses for supplying piped natural gas (PNG) for entire India, barring Andaman and Lakshadweep islands.

Currently, there are 12 million PNG connections in the country, up from 2.54 million connections across 66 districts in 2013-14.

Last year, the government informed Parliament that authorised entities have to provide 125 million PNG connections by 2030. This includes rural and urban areas based on minimum work programme targets.