Centre to give subsidy of Rs 200 per gas cylinder to PM Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Saturday that the Centre will give Rs 200 per gas cylinder to over 9 crore beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana this year. Beneficiaries will receive the subsidy on up to 12 cylinders. "This will have a revenue implication of around Rs 6100 crore a year," wrote Sitharaman on Twitter. 

A 14.2-kg LPG cylinder costs Rs 1,003 in the national capital. Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries, the poor women who got free connections, will get Rs 200 subsidy directly in their bank accounts and the effective price for them would be Rs 803 per 14.2-kg cylinder.

This was among a host of announcements made by the Finance Minister on Twitter. She also announced that the government has decided to reduce the Central excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre and on diesel by Rs 6 per litre.

This will reduce the price of petrol by Rs 9.5 per litre and of diesel by Rs 7 per litre, noted Sitharaman on Twitter. 

The FM also stated that the centre is also reducing the customs duty on raw materials and intermediaries for plastic products where our import dependence is high. She added that this will result in a reduction in the cost of final products.

Sitharaman added that the government is "calibrating customs duty on raw materials & intermediaries for iron & steel to reduce their prices."

 She stated that import duty on some raw materials of steel will be reduced and export duty on some steel products will be levied. 

Sitharaman also conveyed that measures are being taken up to "improve the availability of cement and through better logistics to reduce the cost of cement." 

Sitharaman explained that these announcements have been made keeping in line with the government's commitment to helping the poor and the needy. She also added that despite the challenging international situation, the government has ensured that there are no shortages or scarcities of essential goods.

(With PTI Inputs)

Also read: Centre cuts excise duty on petrol, diesel: Sitharaman