In what comes as a major relief, the Union cabinet has decided to reduce the price of gas cylinders by Rs 200. The domestic gas cylinders cost Rs 1,103 per unit in New Delhi currently.
The decision comes ahead of the assembly elections in five states, including Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, later this year. The move also comes even as political opponents have been targetting the BJP-led Centre over the issue of price rise of essential items like onions and tomatoes.
Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur further on Tuesday that the Cabinet Committee for Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, decided to provide 75 lakh new LPG connections for free under the Ujjwala scheme.
“On the occasion of Rakshabandhan and Onam, the Union government has decided to reduce the price of domestic cylinders by Rs 200 and extend the Ujjwala scheme to 73 lakh women,” the minister has been quoted as saying. Currently, the scheme has as many as 9.6 crore beneficiaries.
Subsidy for Ujjwala beneficiaries now stands at Rs 400 per LPG cylinder, the minister said.
Domestic gas cylinders will now cost around Rs 900 for normal consumers, and for beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), it will cost around Rs 700.
