Impact Of Ujjwala Yojana: Nine Out Of 10 Indian Households Now Cook On An LPG Cylinder

Indian households are moving towards the use of cleaner LPG for cooking from polluting firewood. As per an Economic Times report, due to Ujjawala Yojna now nine out of 10 homes use LPG.

Oil PSUs have added nearly 10 crore consumers since April 2015. By the end of October 89 per cent of households have access to LPG fuel, which is a 32.8 per cent increase from 56.2 per cent on 1 April 2015.

About, 22.9 crore customers receive subsidy out of 24.9 crore. The urban customer base is more than half with 13.6 crore subscribers. The real challenge is that less tha half of customers have double cylinders.

Interestingly, a significant reason customers still use polluting fuels is that while the refill is on the way people are ought to use firewood or other fuels.

North states have the highest LPG coverage ratio of 99.9 per cent, with Punjab 136 per cent and Delhi 126 per cent. Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, and Uttarakhand have more than 100 per cent coverage, and Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have lower coverage with 89.7 per cent and 95.4 per cent.

LPG coverage ratio is calculated by dividing the number of subscribers by the current population. Due to migration, some states have a ratio of more than 100 per cent.

Goa has the highest coverage ratio of 139 per cent. Telangana, Puducherry, Kerala and Mizoram are the southern state with more than 100 per cent coverage.

Worst states include Jharkhand with 65.4 per cent, Bihar 67 per cent and Odisha 66.9 per cent. Gujarat has 66.6 per cent but is equipped with the gas pipeline.