New Delhi:
Despite opposition within the UPA allies, the government has ruled out any rollback on the decision taken by the Union cabinet to cap number of subsidised cooking gas (LPG) cylinders every year. On September 13, the cabinet had decided to set the cap at six cylinders per household per year.
A top government official, who didn’t want to be quoted, said: "If we are to change this, then there will be a shadow cast on the recent reforms like FDI in retail."
Asked about whether the government is contemplating any move to increase the number of subsidised cylinders, Oil Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said: "I have nothing new to say on this issue."
As per the government’s September 13 decision, for any requirement of more than six LPG cylinders in a year, a household would have to pay Rs 895 per cylinder. Before the cap was implemented, the government used to provide subsidy of Rs 485 on all the domestic cylinders (14.2 KG), regardless of number of cylinders.
For the current financial year (beginning April 2012 and ending March 2013) Mr. Reddy said: “Irrespective of how many subsidised LPG cylinders they may have consumed in the first half of current fiscal that began in April, families will get three 14.2-kg LPG cylinders at subsidised rates during the period till March 31, 2013. There is no ambiguity on that.”
Meanwhile, to check duplication and multiple LPG connections in the same household, the oil marketing companies—Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, which sell the LPG cylinders through dealers—have also undertaken the Know Your Customer (KYC) exercise. New connections, too, are being released only after receipt of completed KYC forms and multiple connection checks.
A top government official, who didn’t want to be quoted, said: "If we are to change this, then there will be a shadow cast on the recent reforms like FDI in retail."
Asked about whether the government is contemplating any move to increase the number of subsidised cylinders, Oil Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said: "I have nothing new to say on this issue."
As per the government’s September 13 decision, for any requirement of more than six LPG cylinders in a year, a household would have to pay Rs 895 per cylinder. Before the cap was implemented, the government used to provide subsidy of Rs 485 on all the domestic cylinders (14.2 KG), regardless of number of cylinders.
For the current financial year (beginning April 2012 and ending March 2013) Mr. Reddy said: “Irrespective of how many subsidised LPG cylinders they may have consumed in the first half of current fiscal that began in April, families will get three 14.2-kg LPG cylinders at subsidised rates during the period till March 31, 2013. There is no ambiguity on that.”
Meanwhile, to check duplication and multiple LPG connections in the same household, the oil marketing companies—Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, which sell the LPG cylinders through dealers—have also undertaken the Know Your Customer (KYC) exercise. New connections, too, are being released only after receipt of completed KYC forms and multiple connection checks.
