The Planning Commission on Tuesday gave its approval to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry's scheme to give Rs. 1,400 subsidy per household to enable 35 lakh below poverty line (BPL) families get a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) connection. The scheme will cost the exchequer around Rs. 490 crore in the first phase.
Giving this information here, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Jitin Prasada said: “The Planning Commission has also agreed to provide 50 per cent of the cost from Plan funds.”
The scheme will be operated through public sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) — IOC, the BPCL, the HPCL ).
“The scheme will act as an incentive to the BPL families in rural areas, small urban towns and cities which till have been left uncovered by the LPG network and are being targeted to pursue them to shift to clean cooking fuel,” he added.
Mr. Prasada said this was one of the commitments made by the UPA government to help BPL families through the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitrak Yojana.
The Minister said coverage of the LPG supply was presently mainly in urban and semi-urban areas and the rural penetration was low.
He said approximately one crore LPG connections are to be released each year for the next four years.
With Rs.1,250 as security deposit for LPG and Rs. 150 for pressure regulator, a customer would require Rs.1,400 for obtaining a domestic connection.
