(ET)
Nine out of 10 Indian homes now use cleaner cooking gas, a record improvement over just about five in 10 homes four years ago, as a result of the Modi government’s relentless effort at popularizing cleaner fuel and subsidizing subscription to poor families.
State oil companies, pushed by the oil ministry, have added record 10 crore consumers since April 2015, expanding the active consumer base by two-thirds. This has increased access to cooking gas, or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), to 89% of the country’s households by October end, a sharp jump from 56.2% on April 1, 2015.
The increased LPG coverage has primarily been driven by the government’s determination to take cleaner fuel to more and more homes, which forced state oil companies to reach out to potential customers and simplify subscription process. A subsidy for fresh LPG connection to poor families helped fuel demand.
