Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas M. Veerappa Moily has said it is “in the interest of consumers” to provide Aadhaar numbers to petroleum companies, even though the companies cannot deny LPG subsidy in the light of the Supreme Court ruling that Aadhaar cannot be tied with government services.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 66th All India Commerce Conference here on Saturday, he said: “The consumers should understand that petroleum companies stand to gain nothing, but consumers do through Aadhaar linkage.”
Bogus cardsMr. Moily argued that crores of LPG cards are bogus and weeding them out through Aadhaar validation would help consumers. “Plugging this leakage will, in fact, help reduce the price of LPG, which will help the customers and not the companies,” he said.
Delivering the valedictory address earlier, Mr. Moily said India can become entirely energy independent by 2030. It can cut down oil exports by 50 per cent by 2020 and 75 per cent by 2025 if there is a concerted effort to achieve the goal, he added. He called this “the second freedom struggle for economic prosperity”.
GDP growthMr. Moily said the GDP is growing at a rate of 4.5 to 5 per cent in the country, though it should grow at the rate of 7.5 per cent given the resource generation. Only a determined and passionate effort can change the scenario, and India should harness its demographic dividend and work as a team, he added.
At the valedictory function medals and certificates were presented to those who put up the best papers and projects at the three-day conference hosted by the Department of Commerce at Bangalore University, as part of the yearlong golden jubilee celebrations.
