Direct cash transfer of LPG subsidy in 20 districts from June 20

NEW DELHI: The government will directly transfer money directly to bank accounts of cooking gas customers in 10 districts from June 1 before launching it nation-wide to check diversion of highly subsidized fuel and eventually save about 10,000 crore annually.

"We are ready to launch the direct benefit transfer scheme for ( LPG) liquefied petroleum gas all over the country but we want to see the results of the roll-out in these 20 districts," Oil Minister Veerappa Moily told reporters.

Customers interested to avail the subsidy in these districts will now be required to provide their aadhaar number to oil companies and also to their banks, Oil Secretary Vivek Rae said.

"Three months time will be given to consumers to get their aadhaar numbers in order to save them from inconveniences," he said.

"All aadhaar linked domestic LPG consumers will get an advance in their bank accounts as soon as they book the first subsidised cylinder even before delivery. This is to reduce their financial burden when they purchase the first LPG cylinder at market rate after launch of the scheme," he said.

Consumers will get subsidy up to nine cylinders in one financial year, beyond that they have to pay the market rates for additional cylinders. Currently, the government gives a subsidy of about Rs 378 per cylinder. Market price of a cylinder in Delhi is Rs 847.

The direct subsidy scheme involving 14 crore customers will be managed online, which has helped the government to identify about 2.5 crore "suspects" misusing subsidy, joint secretary Neeraj Mittal said.

"Out of that we have identified and blocked 63 lakh duplicate connections that has saved Rs 2,000 crore subsidy annually," Mittal said.

The 20 districts are Anantpur, Chittoor, East Godavari, Mysore, Hyderabad, North Goa, Wardha, Pondicherry, Ranga Reddy, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Mandi, Una, Tumkur, Pathanamthitta, Wayanand, SBS Nagar, East Nimar (Knandwa), Harda and Diu.

These districts, spread in 10 states, have 76 lakh cooking gas consumers and 520 gas agencies. About 89% consumers have aadhaar numbers, 52% have been seeded in the national database and 15% already have their bank accounts linked with their aadhaar numbers, Mittal said.