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• Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a ₹100 reduction in LPG cylinder prices to support women and promote a healthier environment.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced that his government has decided to reduce LPG cylinder prices by ₹100 in view of International Women's Day.

"By making cooking gas more affordable, we also aim to support the well-being of families and ensure a healthier environment. This is in line with our commitment to empowering women and ensuring ‘Ease of Living’ for them," PM Modi wrote on the X platfrom.

With Lok Sabha elections just around the corner, Modi government on Thursday announced the extension of ₹300 per LPG cylinder subsidy to poor women under the Ujjwala Yojana for the next fiscal starting April 1.

The government in October last year hiked the subsidy from ₹200 per 14.2-kg cylinders for up to 12 refills per year to ₹300 per bottle. The ₹300 per cylinder subsidy was for the current fiscal, which ends on March 31.

The move, likely to benefit nearly 10 crore families, will cost the government ₹12,000 crore. 

The general elections are due in April-May.

PM Modi-led NDA regime launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) in May 2016 to provide deposit-free LPG connections to adult women of poor households.

While the connection was provided for free, the beneficiaries had to purchase LPG refills at market price.

As fuel prices soared, the government in May 2022 provided a ₹200 per cylinder subsidy to PMUY beneficiaries. This was increased to ₹300 in October 2023.

In 2023, months before the assembly elections in five states, including Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the Modi government had in late August cut cooking gas prices by ₹200 per cylinder. After this, the LPG cylinder price came down to ₹903.

For Ujjwala beneficiaries, the price was ₹603 after considering the ₹300 per cylinder subsidy, which is directly paid into the bank accounts of connection holders.