As many as 87% beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) in Gujarat have come back for a refill of the LPG cylinder which is much higher than the national average, senior oil and gas industry executives said on Thursday.
In Gujarat, oil marketing companies IOCL, BPCL and HPCL have provided 19.16 lakh LPG connections to beneficiaries since the Ujjwala scheme was launched in May 2016. Over 7.52 lakh connections were issued in 2016-17, 5.17 lakh in 2017-18, and 6.47 lakh in the current financial year.
"In Gujarat, 87% of the PMUY beneficiaries have come back for a refill of LPG cylinders after getting their connections, while the national average is about 80%. The average per capita consumption in the state is 4.13 cylinders per year," SS Lamba, State Level Coordinator of oil marketing companies, told reporters.
To encourage higher refills, the companies are allowing the beneficiaries to exchange the 14.2 kg cylinder with the 5 kg refill cylinder, and vice versa.
"We are doing this to make availing LPG cylinders more affordable for the beneficiaries," said Lamba, who is also executive director of Indian Oil in Gujarat. In Gujarat, 92.3% beneficiaries, who could not afford to make upfront payment for purchase of gas stove and first refill, were provided loan facility by the oil companies. The industry is also expanding its dealer network to reach out to more beneficiaries. Lamba said that the number of LPG distributors in the state is 810 at present, and 286 more distributors would be added in the next 6-8 months.
The Ujjwala scheme originally targeted 5 crore LPG connections to women members of BPL households by March 2019. However, the target was achieved in August 2018 itself. The central government revised the target by an additional 3 crore by March 2020 earlier this year.
On Wednesday, the LPG connection was handed over to the 6th crore beneficiary at the hands of Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu.
CURRENT STATUS
According to Lamba, the total number of LPG connections in Gujarat now stands at 93.5 lakh, including the 19.16 lakh connections given under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
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