As many as 7.7 lakh beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) scheme have switched to 5 kg liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders from the standard 14.2 kg domestic cylinders provided to them earlier under the scheme. Among the new PMUY beneficiaries, oil marketing companies (OMCs) have released 8.1 lakh 5 kg connections as on January 1, petroleum minister Rameswar Teli recently informed Parliament.
Under the first phase of the PMUY scheme, 8 crore LPG connections were provided to poor households. Under the second phase of the PMUY scheme — launched in August 2021 — a target of providing one crore LPG connections was set, and the target was extended to an additional 60 lakh connections in January 2022. Under PMUY-2, the beneficiaries are given deposit-free LPG connection along with free first refill and a stove.
