(ET)
Over 20 million households joined the oil ministry’s flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) during the last financial year (2016-17), according to data released by the ministry as part of a reply in Parliament. Also, the top five states in the list of beneficiaries included Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The centre had rolled out PMUY in May 2016 under which the government plans to release 50 million deposit-free new LPG connections to women of BPL families over three years starting April 2016. Under the scheme, Uttar Pradesh received more than 5.1 million new subsidized LPG connections followed by West Bengal with 1.96 million connections, Bihar with 1.91 million connections, Madhya Pradesh with 1.88 million connections and Rajasthan with more than 1.53 million connections.
“Eligible beneficiaries under PMUY are identified through the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011 data. The LPG connection is released in the name of an adult woman of the BPL family, subject to the condition that no LPG connection should exist in the name of any family member of the household,” Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in a reply in Lok Sabha recently.
India’s LPG penetration at the end of financial year 2016-2017 increased to 71 percent from 56 percent in 2014. Oil Marketing Companies managed to release 32.5 million new LPG connections in 2016-17 the highest number of LPG connections released in a financial year in the country’s history.
