PM launches Ujjwala Yojana 2.0 in poll-bound UP

“Ujjwala Yojana has led to manifold enlargement of LPG fuel infrastructure,” Modi mentioned, including that “over the past six-seven years greater than 11,000 LPG distribution centres have been opened”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched the second version of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) at Mahoba in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, to additional improve the penetration of LPG in cooking by offering free connections to the poor.

Within the Finances for FY22, the federal government had pledged to supply one crore extra LPG connections underneath the PMUY.

The primary version of the PMUY was launched in Could 2016 from Ballia in Uttar Pradesh within the run as much as the meeting elections held in February-March 2017. The following meeting election within the state is scheduled to start out in February 2022.

Within the first section of the scheme, eight crore beneficiaries have obtained free LPG connections until date. The federal government paid Rs 1,600/ person to grease advertising firms (OMCs) to cowl the price of offering connections and cylinders to the first-time LPG customers underneath PMUY-1. OMCs additionally offered interest-free loans to PMUY beneficiaries to cowl the price of the primary refill. The modalities for releasing new connections underneath PMUY-2 haven’t been made public but.

“Ujjwala Yojana has led to manifold enlargement of LPG fuel infrastructure,” Modi mentioned, including that “over the past six-seven years greater than 11,000 LPG distribution centres have been opened”.

With 1.5 crore customers, PMUY has the most important variety of beneficiaries in Uttar Pradesh, adopted by 88 lakh connections in West Bengal, 85 lakh in Bihar and 71.4 lakh in Madhya Pradesh. Together with PMUY customers, there are presently round 29.1 crore energetic LPG customers within the nation.

The PMUY-2 is seen to supply most profit to households which have migrated from villages to cities or to different states for work. “These employees from different locations needn’t run from pillar to put up for tackle proof,” Modi mentioned, including that “the federal government has full religion within the honesty of the migrant employees” and “all one has to do is give a self-declaration of the tackle for getting a fuel connection”.

OMCs have discovered a big improve within the credit score threat in case of sure PMUY loans offered for the primary cylinder refill. Contemplating previous expertise and time elapsed because the final refill, Indian Oil Company (IOCL), as of FY21-end, has categorised loans value Rs 910.45 crore as “uncertain” out of the Rs 3,022.6 crore lent to PMUY customers. Hindustan Petroleum has created a provision of impairment for Rs 618 crore until March 2021 towards loans of `1,882.3 crore prolonged to PMUY customers.

Because the mortgage quantity for the primary refill for customers underneath PMUY-1 was to be recovered from the subsidy quantity payable by the federal government to prospects on every refill, additionally it is not instantly clear how OMCs plan the restoration of the remaining mortgage quantity if the present no-subsidy regime persists. The Centre has stopped offering subsidy for LPG cylinders since Could 2020, and with retail worth sans subsidy of home LPG cylinders presently surpassing the Rs 800-mark, doubts have been raised on the refilling capability of low-income customers.

The federal government lately knowledgeable Parliament that out of the eight crore PMUY beneficiaries, lower than 4.8 crore customers have refilled their LPG cylinders a minimum of as soon as within the first quarter of FY22.

PMUY beneficiaries refilled 3.01 cylinders on a mean in FY20, and their common consumption had elevated 44% yearly in FY21. In accordance with a latest response to a Parliament query by the minister of state of the petroleum and pure fuel ministry Rameswar Teli, as many as 7.9 crore PMUY customers had refilled their LPG cylinders in FY21.

The rise in consumption might be defined by the profit offered to PMUY customers underneath the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, whereby the price of LPG cylinder refills was paid upfront to the financial institution accounts of the beneficiaries throughout Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020. As many as 14.2 crore free cylinders had been distributed freed from price to the PMUY beneficiaries throughout April-December 2020 underneath this package deal.