Friday, 12 Sep, 2025
By: Anshul Vipat
High cylinder prices has reversed gains made by PM Narendra Modi's pet scheme - Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana
The increase in prices has affected households grappling with runaway inflation and rising prices of various commodities. High cylinder prices has reversed gains made by PM Narendra Modi's pet scheme - Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. Launched in 2016, it provided subsidized LPG connections and cylinders to more than 80 million beneficiaries. According to a report by Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), LPG's share in Indians' primary cooking fuels had increased from 28.5% in 2011 to 71% by March 2020. However, recurring expense of refilling cylinders is forcing marginalised household to look for alternatives.
According to the recent data provided by the petroleum ministry in Rajya Sabha, there is a consistent decline in the average refills from 2016-17 to 2019-20, from almost 4 to nearly 3. The average amount of refills increased during the pandemic period, but it again dropped in 2021-22 period. As of 2022, the LPG consumption under the Ujjwala Yojana remains 3.66 refills per connection annually.
Out of the total beneficiaries of PMUY, only 2 crore consumers took one or no refill. The figure in 2020-21 was 0.77, while in 2019-20 it was 3.24 crores. Out of the total domestic active customers of 30.53 crores, 2.11 crore domestic LPG customers had not taken any refill while 2.91 crores domestic LPG customers had taken only one refill. That is, a total of 5.02 crore customers took either no or one refill. It is important to note that government had stopped subsidy for non-PMUY consumers in May 2020.
Ujjwala yojna has proved to be a game-changer for poor households who were able to shift to use cleaner LPG fuel for cooking. However, the high prices of LPG cylinders and limited government subsidy is whitewashing the gains. If the prices continue to remain steep, there is a threat that beneficiaries could go back to using unclean fuels for cooking.
