Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan Saturday said his ministry would launch a new pilot project providing concession to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families seeking new gas connections in the country.
The project to be launched Jan 25, 2015 will provide subsidy of about Rs.1,400 on new gas connections to the BPL families up to March.
"There will be concessional price for new LPG connections to the BPL families. The cheaper LPG connections in rural areas would ensure social and economic inclusion and it would increase gas penetration all over the country," Pradhan told media persons here.
A consumer has to spend Rs. 2,400 for a new gas connection in the country. The minister has also targeted to bring the gas penetration in Odisha at par with national level.
"While there are around one crore households in Odisha, the gas connection are only 25 lakh, which is far below that the national average. The 27 percent penetration in Odisha is much lower than the national average of 60 percent. So, we have decided to increase the consumer base in a time-bound manner to reach the national average in next two years," said Pradhan.
He said every block will have distribution points in the state.