India has witnessed an LPG Revolution as the official statistics indicated on Thursday(April 20, 2023) that a record 17 crores of new LPG connections have helped double the cooking gas consumer base in the country to 31.26 crores in the previous nine years, bringing in clean fuel to millions of households throughout the country.
The number of active domestic LPG customers has risen from 14.52 crore in April 2014 to 31.36 crore in March 2023.
The prominent increase was primarily considered due to the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana (PMUY) which has led to an increase in LPG coverage from just 62% in 2016 to a colossal 104.1% in 2022.
Time has drastically changed, Cooking gas connections are now accessible on demand, and refills may be obtained partially within 24 hours in most localities. Previously, there was a period to receive a new LPG connection, and it would take 7-10 days for delivery of an LPG refill cylinder.
According to the report, the total number of connections provided under PMUY as on January 30, 2023, is 9.58 crore.
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The Union Cabinet authorised a subsidy of Rs 200 for every 14.2 kg cylinder for up to 12 refills per year for PMUY recipients on March 24, 2023.
PMUY was founded with the aim to protect the health of women and children by transitioning kitchens away from firewood and other smoky cooking mediums and towards clean fuel.
The initiative provides qualified households with a deposit-free LPG connection and cash support of Rs 1,600 per connection.
For the first time, public sector oil marketing firms (OMCs) are providing free first LPG refill and gas cooker. The intended goal was to link 5 crore women from low-income families to LPG.
The project was later expanded, and the aim was changed to 8 crores of LPG connections.
Ujjwala 2.0 was launched on August 10, 2021, on a pan-India basis, to give an extra one crore LPG connections to serve the remaining families under PMUY.
On January 31, 2022, the Ujjwala 2.0 aim was met. The government has expanded the initiative with 60 lakh new connections under Ujjwala 2.0, based on a significant number of applications.
According to the data, PMUY beneficiaries’ per capita consumption grew from 3.01 refills in 2019-20 to 3.66 refills in the fiscal year 2021-22.
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