Oil and Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told Parliament on Monday that his Ministry is “excluding” people earning more than Rs.10 lakh a year from LPG subsidies.
“The government has decided to rationalise the subsidy outgo by excluding such LPG consumers from the purview of subsidy, whose or whose spouse have taxable income of Rs.10 lakh above during the previous financial year computed as per the Income Tax Act, 1961 with effect from January 1, 2016,” Mr. Pradhan informed Parliament in a written reply.
Last week, the minister had denied the use of Income Tax data to identify those earning Rs.10 lakh a year or more.
“We do not have access to Income Tax data. We are asking people earning above Rs.10 lakh to come forward and sign affidavits and give up their subsidy,” Mr. Pradhan had said. Joint Secretary Ashutosh Jindal said the
Ministry had identified about 3 lakh people earning more than Rs.10 lakh a year.
