The PMUY’s cooking gas refill issue

Across India’s cities, billboards advertise the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) success in bringing LPG to the nation’s poorest homes through the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY). With a stated target of delivering 80 million free LPG connections to poor women, PMUY has emerged as this government’s marquee scheme for female empowerment and healthy cooking. Yet for all the claims on expanding LPG coverage, new data suggests that rural India is a long way from completely adopting LPG.

According to the government, 80.3 million LPG connections have been released under PMUY since 2016. These new connections have driven a rapid increase in LPG coverage. Estimates from the Petroleum Analysis and Planning Cell (PPAC) suggest that 94% of all households had an LPG connection as of September 2019 – an increase from 56% in 2014-15. But this expansion has yet to fully translate into regular LPG usage.