Proposal to limit subsidised LPG shot down

new delhi: a proposal to limit subsidised domestic cooking gas to one connection per family and kerosene to families below poverty line has been shot down. the cabinet, earlier this month, is understood to have decided against making consumers pay over rs 100 more per cylinder for additional cylinders beyond the stipulated one cylinder per family as the proposal was difficult to implement and would not have substantially dented the subsidy bill. with lpg connections being available across the counter, it was difficult to identify the families using more than one cylinder as some families have two or more connection taken out in different names and from different companies, sources said. besides, the average lpg consumption in the country was about 0.6 cylinders per family per month and hence would have resulted in substantial reduction in the over rs 6,000 crore subsidy bill on domestic cooking gas, sources said. subsidy on kerosene for public distribution system and domestic lpg would have to be paid from the general budget from next fiscal when the administered pricing mechanism for oil sector is to be dismantled, sources said, adding the proposals moved by finance ministry were aimed at limiting the subsidy bill. sources said limiting subsidised kerosene to bpl families would have meant working out quotas with the state government and kerosene supply being a political issue states would not have acceeded to finance ministry''s proposal.