Response to USAID-ASAR study: Access to LPG cylinders has increased since 2014, says Centre

The study — “Barriers to Access, Adoption, and Sustained Use of Cleaner Fuels Among Low-Income Households: An Exploratory Study from Delhi and Jharkhand, India’’ – stated that while the rapid expansion in LPG access was commendable through outreach of Prime Minister Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), having an LPG connection did not ensure its sustained use by households. The study further found that for poorer households, the price of refilling an LPG cylinder was a major hurdle in its usage.

In response, the Centre said, “In April 2014, there were only 5.35 distributorships per lakh households. This number has risen to 8.47 distributorships per lakh households by July 1, 2023. In an effort to reach every village across the country, several Gramin Vitrak distributorships have been established. Of the total 25,398 distributorships as of July 1, 2023, approximately 46% are Gramin Vitrak, and about 8% are Durgam Kshetriya Vitrak. With the exception of Durgam Kshetriya Vitrak, all other distributorships are required to provide home delivery of cylinders.’’

The Centre has further said that from FY 2019-20 to FY 2022-23, per capita consumption by PMUY beneficiaries has increased from 3.01 to 3.71 per annum (in terms of 14.2 kg domestic cylinder). “The increased adoption of LPG among PMUY customers resulted in a significant rise in overall domestic LPG consumption from 14,411 TMT in FY 2013-14 to 25,381 TMT in FY 2022-23, indicating the positive impact of PMUY in improving cooking practices and reducing household air pollution,’’it said.

The Indian government has further said that to “ensure sustained LPG use and to make it affordable for all Ujjwala beneficiaries’’, the government has started to provide an additional subsidy of Rs 200 per cylinder from May 2022.

“For sustained LPG usage the government is continuously regulating LPG prices so that the poor households can be protected from fluctuations of international prices,’’said the government statement.

The government further pointed out that the increase in international prices of LPG in 2020-21 to 2022-23, was not “fully passed on retail prices, due to which public sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) suffered under recoveries of approximately Rs 28,000 crore on sale of domestic LPG’’.

To compensate for this, the government approved a one-time compensation of Rs. 22,000 crore to OMCs in FY 2022-23.

In 2020-21, in order to support PMUY households during the pandemic, the government announced three free refills to each PMUY household under PMGKP. “During the run of the scheme, total 14.17 crore refills were given free of cost to the PMUY beneficiaries,’’it said.