Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister M Veerappa Moily informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply on Friday that as on 1 November, 2012, the three public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporatiion Ltd (HPCL) have 419.22 lakh rural domestic LPG customers in the country.
This is approximately 25.2 per cent of the total rural households in the country.
The government has formulated a Vision-2015 for the LPG sector to raise the country’s LPG population coverage to 75 per cent by releasing 5.5 crore new connections between 2009 and 2015, especially in rural areas. For this purpose a special scheme, Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitaran Yojana (RGGLV), for establishing small LPG distribution agencies was launched three years ago. Advertisements inviting applications for distributorships under the scheme have been released by OMCs covering 5,261 locations, of which 1,591 distributors have been commissioned.
Till 1 November, 2012, the oil marketing companies have enrolled 21.31 lakh domestic LPG customers through these Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitaran Yojana distributorships. During the next three years, the OMCs are expecting to set up an additional 3,760 RGGLVs.
The direct transfer of cash subsidy into the account of the beneficiary reduces the incentive of diversion of subsidized LPG cylinder for non-domestic purposes due to price differentials.
'A scheme for direct transfer of subsidy to LPG consumers in their bank accounts, based on delivery of LPG cylinders, is under consideration of the government,' said Moily.
In this regard, a pilot project for transfer of cash subsidies on LPG cylinder directly to the bank accounts of customers has already been launched in Mysore using Aadhaar numbers.
A token transfer of money for 10 customers has also been made to test the cash transfer mechanism.
This is approximately 25.2 per cent of the total rural households in the country.
The government has formulated a Vision-2015 for the LPG sector to raise the country’s LPG population coverage to 75 per cent by releasing 5.5 crore new connections between 2009 and 2015, especially in rural areas. For this purpose a special scheme, Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitaran Yojana (RGGLV), for establishing small LPG distribution agencies was launched three years ago. Advertisements inviting applications for distributorships under the scheme have been released by OMCs covering 5,261 locations, of which 1,591 distributors have been commissioned.
Till 1 November, 2012, the oil marketing companies have enrolled 21.31 lakh domestic LPG customers through these Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitaran Yojana distributorships. During the next three years, the OMCs are expecting to set up an additional 3,760 RGGLVs.
The direct transfer of cash subsidy into the account of the beneficiary reduces the incentive of diversion of subsidized LPG cylinder for non-domestic purposes due to price differentials.
'A scheme for direct transfer of subsidy to LPG consumers in their bank accounts, based on delivery of LPG cylinders, is under consideration of the government,' said Moily.
In this regard, a pilot project for transfer of cash subsidies on LPG cylinder directly to the bank accounts of customers has already been launched in Mysore using Aadhaar numbers.
A token transfer of money for 10 customers has also been made to test the cash transfer mechanism.