Over 26 lakh Ujjwala applications pending as LPG coverage nears saturation

The 10.33 crore beneficiaries under the PMUY scheme may be expanded further, officials say

While the LPG coverage in the country has reached saturation levels, the number of pending applications under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) stood at more than 26 lakh, according to data submitted by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to the Parliament.

On Thursday, the Ministry said LPG penetration in the country has reached near saturation levels, up from 62 per cent in April 2016, when the Ujjwala scheme was launched. Last month, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) completed the release of 75 lakh additional PMUY connections in September 2023, as part of the third expansion of the scheme.

As many as 26.79 lakh Ujjwala applications are pending nationwide, the ministry said in another answer to the Parliament. Of these, 56.5 per cent of the applications are from West Bengal. The next largest state in terms of the number of pending applications is Assam with 1.89 lakh applications. The government has said no timelines were fixed with regards to accepting these applications.

Officials indicated that the number of beneficiaries may be expanded yet again in light of the number of pending applications. "The coverage of the scheme is based on many factors, and it is an ongoing process to decide on the number of beneficiaries. The coverage may be updated later this year," a petroleum ministry official said.

He added the issue was discussed at the inter-ministerial forums recently.

As of July 1, there are 10.33 crore PMUY beneficiaries. Of these, 2.03 crore beneficiaries, or nearly 20 per cent, took more than 6 refills in 2023-24, government data revealed.

PMUY was announced in 2016 as a flagship scheme with an objective to make clean cooking fuel such as LPG available to the rural and deprived households, which were otherwise using traditional and hazardous cooking fuels such as firewood, coal and cow-dung cakes. It currently provides a subsidy of Rs 300 per 14.2-kg domestic cylinder.

It initially covered 90 million beneficiaries for up to 12 refills for 2022-23. The subsidy was extended by a year in March at Rs 7,680 crore. In October, 2022, the amount of support was expanded, which was till then Rs 200 per cylinder. In March, this year, the Cabinet extended the scheme by a year to the end of 2024-25.

Meanwhile, the average number of cylinders received and used by households under the Ujjwala scheme has increased to 3.95 refills per year as of June. The number is up from 3.8 in December, and is a result of new LPG distributorships in rural areas. Since the launch of the PMUY scheme, OMCs have commissioned 7,905 LPG distributorships across the country, out of which 7,325 are in rural areas.