Subsidised LPG Cylinders Under PM Ujjwala Scheme Cut From 12 To Nine

The government has reduced the number of subsidised liquified petroleum gas cylinders provided under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana Scheme from 12 to nine per year, even as it approved a Rs 12,060-crore outlay for the scheme for the current fiscal.

Eligible households will now receive a Rs 300 subsidy per 14.2 kg cylinder for up to nine refills annually. Those using 5 kg cylinders will get proportionately pro-rated support, the government said in a release issued Friday.

Launched in 2016, PMUY provides deposit-free LPG connections to adult women from poor households. Under Ujjwala 2.0, the first refill and stove are also given free of cost.

To shield consumers from volatile global LPG prices with India importing about 60% of its LPG, the government began offering targeted subsidies in May 2022. Initially set at Rs 200 per cylinder for up to 12 refills per year, the subsidy was increased to Rs 300 in October 2023.

The average per capita consumption by PMUY users has risen from three refills in 2019-20 to 3.68 in 2022-23 and further to 4.47 in fiscal 2025.

The cabinet had further approved a Rs 30,000-crore fund to reimburse oil market companies for losses in their LPG sales.

This compensation will allow the OMCs to continue meeting their critical requirements, such as crude and LPG procurement, servicing of debt and sustaining their capital expenditure, stated an official release issued following the Cabinet meeting.

The compensation will be paid to the three major public sector OMCs — Indian Oil Corp., Bharat Petroleum Corp. and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. — for the under-recoveries incurred on sale of domestic LPG.