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The war in the Middle East has pushed the prices of LPG cylinders to an all-time high of Rs 942. Following this, the government has now decided to introduce major structural changes to the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), the government’s cooking gas subsidy framework. The annual supply of subsidised household LPG cylinders for economically weaker families has been drastically reduced under a new policy decision.
Here is a list of changes that have been announced by the government:
One of the major shifts includes the quota being slashed from 9 to 4 refills, making this one of the primary changes. Under this, the annual volume of subsidised cylinders will be drastically reduced.
Originally offering 12 subsidised refills each year, the scheme has seen its quota steadily reduced — first to nine and now to just four cylinders annually. Households requiring more than four refills must pay the full retail price.
One of the main issues that the change will target is cracking down on systematic misuse. The change will also help rationalise welfare using government intelligence to highlight illegal activities within the wide-open subsidy framework.
Reducing the subsidised LPG cylinder quota under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) from 9 to 4 per year increases a household’s annual out-of-pocket expenses by Rs 1,500 to an average monthly increase of Rs 125 for families that use up to 9 cylinders annually.
The Rs 300 subsidy on 14.2 kg LPG cylinders is now restricted to just the first four refills each year. After that, consumers are required to buy additional cylinders at the full market rate of Rs 942.
As the government plans to lower subsidies on LPG cylinders in India, there is a higher chance of people turning to traditional cooking fuels like firewood, dung cakes and crop residue.
The govt has announced changes in the Ujjwala LPG Cap plan. AI-generated image
High out-of-pocket expenses make regular LPG use challenging for rural families with low or inconsistent incomes. This often leads to “fuel stacking”, where LPG is reserved for select purposes while biomass remains the primary cooking fuel.
There is a high chance that gains made in the effort to reduce indoor air pollution will increase. Unable to afford regular gas cylinder refills, many households use LPG sparingly while relying mainly on biomass for daily cooking. Some even switch back entirely to traditional fuels like wood, coal and cow dung.
The driving force behind the change in the policy remains the ongoing tensions in West Asia, the biggest exporters of fuel in the world. This is also the reason for the aggressive fiscal consolidation, the escalating energy crisis in international markets.
Global fuel costs have surged amid maritime supply chain disruptions and conflicts in West Asia. With nearly 60 per cent of India’s LPG demand being met through imports, the cost of bringing each cylinder into the country has increased sharply.
The Congress on Tuesday hit out at the government over its reduction of the number of subsidised refills of LPG gas cylinders under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana and alleged that it only sheds “crocodile tears” on the plight of women while being “intoxicated on power”.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the reality of the Modi government’s poverty-reduction campaign is that first, the right to work under MGNREGA was snatched away from the poor and now, even the morsel of food is being taken away.
“2016: Modi-ji claimed that the Ujjwala Yojana would liberate women from the smoke of wood-burning stoves. There was a promise of 12 subsidized cylinders a year. However, last year, that number was reduced from 12 to 9. 2026: Now, the number of subsidized cylinders has been further cut from 9 to just 4. In short a promise of 12, but an intention of giving only 4,” Kharge said in his post in Hindi.
With inputs from agencies
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