The government has reduced the number of subsidized cooking gas cylinders that 105 million poor families receive under its popular social welfare program from nine to four, a senior Petroleum Ministry official said on Monday, a day after the reduction was sideways announced in a statement justifying the cut. $29 increase in the price of the 14.2 kg Cyclander that was announced on Sunday.
Praveen Khanuja, additional secretary in the oil ministry, justified this by pointing to the fact that state-run oil companies are still losing money. $700 pounds for every 14.2 kg LPG refill, $6 pounds per liter of gasoline $30 liters on diesel.
He added that all cooking gas customers (about 333.7 million) are still getting LPG refills at a cheaper price. $700 per cylinder compared to market prices. In addition, the beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), about 105 million poor families, receive financial relief. $300 pounds per cylinder supports up to four packages per year.
His clarification came a day after the Petroleum Ministry’s statement on the price hike: “The PMUY beneficiary will additionally receive a direct benefit transfer from $300 cylinders in the first four packs every year – broadly the average consumption for a typical Ujwala household…”
This was the first sign that the government had officially reduced the number of subsidized cylinders from nine to four. In August 2025, the Federal Cabinet agreed to support nine cylinders annually.
PMUY was first launched in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh in 2016 as a scheme to provide free clean fuel (LPG) connectivity with no installation charges to underprivileged households. As of August 2021 (Ujjwala 2.0), each connection also included a free first LPG cylinder and stove. Some states have given additional free cylinders besides the Centre’s scheme.
During the Covid-19 pandemic (under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana), the government provided three cylinders to Ujjwala beneficiaries free of charge. From May 2022, the government began providing targeted support of $200 drums weighing 14.2 kg for PMUY beneficiaries for up to 12 packages per year for the years 2022-23 and 2023-24. In October 2023, the target support for LPG was raised to $300 for up to 12 packages per year.
On 8 August 2025, the Cabinet approved targeted support for $300 per drum weighing 14.2 kg for up to nine packages per year for Ujjwala beneficiaries for 2025-26. Now, the number has been reduced to four, with a maximum support limit of $300 per 14.2 kg cylinder.
The government’s efforts have seen a jump in domestic LPG consumption. According to a statement issued by the Union Cabinet on August 8, 2025, the average per capita consumption of PMUY consumers, which was only about three packs in 2019-20 and 3.68 packs in 2022-23, has improved to about 4.47 in 2024-25.
Experts said that reducing the number of subsidized cylinders from nine to four comes to control the inflated fuel subsidy bill despite two rounds of price increases. Global energy markets were damaged by the war in West Asia. Khanuja did not mention an estimate of LPG subsidy expenditures in 2026-2027 in light of the volatile global energy scenario.
According to the Petroleum Ministry’s statement issued on June 7, more than 333.7 million consumers receive two types of price protection, one of which is insufficient refunds incurred by IOCs for all consumers and the other is additional compensation. $300 per support cylinder for 105.8 million Ujjwala beneficiaries.
“The under-recovery is the gap between the international cost of a molecule and the regulated retail price; it is absorbed by public sector marketing companies and partially compensated by the Treasury,” the ministry said in a statement.
In 2025-2026, the cumulative shortfall in domestic LPG recovery has reached $60,000 crore, up from $41,338 crore in the previous year, and the Union Cabinet approved compensation $30,000 crores to marketing companies on this account, she said.
“In this way, almost all Indian consumers have been getting LPG at prices well below international market levels over the past few years. The Government of India has guaranteed one of the lowest cooking gas prices in the world to Indian citizens for several years, despite extreme fluctuations in international prices,” the ministry statement added.
