The government team led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to continue giving a discount of Rs.300 on each 14.2 kg gas cylinder. This discount applies to up to 12 cylinder refills in a year for people who are part of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) during the financial year 2024-25. As of March 1, 2024, there are over 10.27 crore people who benefit from PMUY.
The total money spent on this discount will be Rs.12,000 crore for the year 2024-25. This discount money is directly sent to the bank accounts of the people who are eligible.
To help poor families in rural areas get clean cooking fuel, the government started the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in May 2016. This plan gives poor women free connections to use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
India buys about 60% of its LPG from other countries. To protect PMUY beneficiaries from big price changes in the international market and to make LPG affordable for them, the government began giving a Rs.200 discount per 14.2 kg cylinder for up to 12 refills each year to PMUY users in May 2022. In October 2023, this discount was increased to Rs.300 per cylinder. As of February 1, 2024, PMUY users need to pay Rs.603 for each 14.2 kg LPG cylinder in Delhi.
The average use of LPG by PMUY users has gone up by 29% from 3.01 refills in 2019-20 to 3.87 refills (as of January 2024) for the year 2023-24. All PMUY users can get this discount.
