Budget 2021: Boost for Ujjwala; data to be used for more schemes

New Delhi: The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana got a boost in the budget for 2021-22, with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing addition of 10 million beneficiaries during the year to the government’s flagship scheme under which cooking gas connections are given free of cost to women of below poverty line (BPL) families.

As on January 31, about 83 million LPG connections have been given under the scheme, which has helped the government increase the all-India LPG coverage to 99.5%. In the next fiscal, the government will give preference to the states and pockets, particularly in eastern parts of the country, which have not yet benefited from the scheme.

The number of Ujjwala scheme beneficiaries is important also because its database is used to deliver other direct benefit transfer schemes. It also helped the government reach out to a large section of BPL people across the country during Covid-19. Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan package during the pandemic, free LPG cylinders were given to all Ujjwala scheme beneficiaries for three months. Cash amounts equivalent to the retail selling price of the LPG cylinders were transferred directly to the beneficiaries’ accounts.


New LPG connections will primarily be given in states such as West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand where the penetration is still low. This data will form the basis of extending other benefits to the people in the coming days, as the government will be able to use the bank account numbers and Aadhaar details of the beneficiaries.