The central government will from June 1, 2013 roll out direct transfer of cash subsidy on cooking gas (LPG) in 20 districts as it looks to cut its subsidy outgo by up to Rs. 10,000 crore annually by eliminating diversions.
Oil Minister Mr. M Veerappa Moily said about 76 lakh consumers in 20 districts such as Mysore, North Goa, Pondicherry, Mandi and Hyderabad, will get Rs. 435 in their back accounts every time they book an LPG refill.
These consumers then will have to buy cooking gas at market price which is double the Rs. 410.50 rate for a 14.2 kg bottle in Delhi.
Announcing the launch, Mr. Moily said the central government intends to extend the scheme to rest of the India but refused to give timelines for the same. We are ready to launch the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme for LPG all over India but we want to see the results of the roll-out in these 20 districts, he said.
Mr. Moily said the 20 districts selected have high Aadhaar or / unique identification number penetration. While as many as 89 % of the LPG consuming population in these districts have Aadhaar number, the government will give a 3 month grace period to them to procure the UID number and seed it with their bank accounts where cash subsidy has to be transferred.
After 3 months,that is from September 1, 2013 only consumers having Aadhaar & banks accounts linked to them will get cash subsidy and the rest will have to buy LPG at market price, he also said.
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