In run-up to state polls, LPG price cut by Rs 200

New Delhi, August 29

Months before the Assembly elections in Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram, followed by the 2024 General Election, a meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday approved a Rs 200 cut in the price of the popular 14.2-kg gas cylinder for all 33 crore consumers across India and the release of another 75 lakh new LPG cylinder connections under the subsidised Ujjwala scheme for women in rural households.

Rs 903 Cost of LPG cylinder now in Delhi

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33 cr LPG consumers across India

75 lakh Connections on cards under Ujjwala scheme

9.6 cr Existing customers under Ujjwala

With this, the number of beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana will rise from 9.6 crore to 10.35 crore. Ujjwala beneficiaries will continue to get the current Rs 200 subsidy per cylinder along with the additional Rs 200 cut announced today.

Easing Women’s lives

Raksha Bandhan is a day of happiness in households. With the gas price cut, my sisters’ lives will be eased. Narendra Modi, PM

Expect more ‘gifts’

Expect more ‘gifts’ in the coming months as the PM becomes even more desperate to cling on to his chair. Jairam Ramesh, AICC Gen Secy

Effective Wednesday (August 30), a 14.2-kg LPG cylinder in New Delhi will cost Rs 903 instead of Rs 1,103; for Ujjwala beneficiaries, the cost will be Rs 703 per cylinder. The government today said the decision would bring relief to households and women, and it was a “gift on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan and Onam”, with PM Modi adding that the price cut would “ease the lives of women”. “Raksha Bandhan is a day of happiness in households. With the gas price cut, my sisters’ lives will be eased. This will bring them relief. I wish for all my sisters to stay happy, healthy,” the PM posted on X, presenting the Cabinet decision as the ruling NDA’s “Rakhi gift to women”. The opposition Congress was quick to question the move with party president Mallikarjun Kharge asking why for nine years a Rs 400 cylinder was sold at Rs 1,100.

“Seeing a drop in votes, the government is doling out gifts in an expression of fake solidarity with our sisters and mothers. Handing out an election lollypop after harassing people for nine years will not help,” Kharge said.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said the decision was a reaction to the success of the INDIA alliance, “which is meeting in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1”.

The government countered the Opposition attack with Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur dismissing links between the Cabinet decision and elections.

“This is a gift from the Modi government to women on the occasion of Onam and Raksha Bandhan,” Thakur said close on the heels of Kharge announcing in poll- bound Madhya Pradesh that the Congress, if voted to power, would give LPG cylinder for Rs 500.

The Cabinet did not announce any change in the prices of 19-kg domestic and commercial gas cylinders.

The price cut comes against the backdrop of oil companies complaining of losses in selling the 14.2-kg cylinder at the government-mandated static rate of Rs 1,103 (Delhi) since March when the rates were hiked by Rs 50.