New Delhi, Jan 6 (IANS) Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday that as many as 10.41 crore LPG connections have already been provided for the supply of subsidised cooking gas to poor families under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana as the government steadily progresses to achieve its target of covering 10.6 crore families under the scheme.
Puri further stated that the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana has succeeded in building a nationwide system that delivers clean cooking fuel reliably with every refill.
“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ujjwala has transformed clean cooking from a welfare measure into a reliable everyday infrastructure,” the minister said in a post on X.
LPG is being made affordable for the poor through a targeted subsidy of Rs 300 per 14.2 kg cylinder for up to nine refills per year under the PMUY scheme. This intervention has resulted in a steady rise in LPG consumption. The average per capita consumption increased from about three refills in 2019-20 to 4.47 refills in FY 2024-25 and further to a pro-rated level of about 4.85 refills per annum during FY 2025-26, indicating sustained adoption of clean cooking fuel, according to figures compiled by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
To clear pending applications and achieve saturation of LPG access, the government approved the release of 25 lakh additional LPG connections during FY 2025-26. Subsidy targeting and transparency were improved with the acceleration of Aadhaar authentication. As on December 1, 2025, biometric authentication covered 71 per cent of PMUY consumers and 62 per cent of non-PMUY consumers, according to an official statement.
Consumer safety was strengthened through the nationwide Basic Safety Check campaign. More than 12.12 crore free safety inspections were conducted at customer premises, and over 4.65 crore LPG hoses were replaced at discounted rates, significantly enhancing awareness and safety standards in domestic LPG usage, the statement added.
--IANS
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