(TNIE)
Having taken the LPG coverage in the country from around 55 per cent in 2014 to around 90 per cent currently, the target is to reach 100 per cent coverage soon, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said.
“Very soon, India will be connecting all households with clean cooking fuel. The source of fuel will be LPG as well as gas from biomass and alternate sources,” Pradhan said at Petrotech 2019. The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, where free connections are given to Below Poverty Line households, has been a major force in increasing LPG coverage. Recently, the target was set at LPG for 8 crore households by 2020. Since its launch in 2016, 6.4 crore new connections were given.
With estimated imports of above 12 million metric tonnes in the financial year 2018-19, India stands as world’s second largest importer of LPG, after China. The country’s LPG imports have registered remarkable trend in the last five years, growing at a healthy CAGR of 12.5 per cent, surpassing import volumes of Japan in the financial year 2017,” Pradhan had pointed out speaking at the recent Asia LPG summit.
