Consultative Committee meeting of Members of Parliament attached to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

Consultative Committee meeting of Members of Parliament attached to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

The Consultative Committee meeting of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was held in New Delhi today. The subject for the meeting was “Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana” (PMUY) launched by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi on 1st May, 2016 in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh. Under PMUY LPG connections will be given to the women of the BPL households. The Consultative Committee meeting was chaired by Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum & Natural Gas, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan. The meeting was attended by 18 Members of Parliament attached with Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, the Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and other senior officials of the Ministry and officials of Oil Marketing Companies.

A presentation on “Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana” was given to the Members of Parliament. The members were apprised about the various features of the scheme. Members also participated in discussions and put forward suggestions for proper implementation of the ambitious programme. Shri Dharmendra Pradhan thanked the members for their suggestions and sought their active cooperation for smooth implementation of the Scheme.

Background on PMUY

Finance Minister in the Budget speech on 29.2.2016 had announced a budgetary provision of Rs. 2000 crore to provide deposit free LPG connections to 1.5 crore women belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. Further, the Budget announced that the Scheme will be continued for two more years to cover 5 crore households. Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana provides financial support of Rs 1600 for each LPG connection to the BPL households.

******

Gas Connections in Villages

The Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today that it is Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) aim to increase the National LPG coverage to 75 % with minimum 60 % coverage at State level and at least one distributor in each block by 2019. Further, the Government has launched “Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana” for providing LPG connections to 5 crore women belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families over a period of 3 years starting from FY 2016-17. Priority will be given to those States where LPG coverage is lower than the national coverage. Currently, the process for setting up of more than 1800 new LPG distributorships is at different stages of selection across the country.

****
Global Crude oil price of Indian Basket was US$ 41.92 per bbl on 10.05.2016

The international crude oil price of Indian Basket as computed/published today by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was US$ 41.92 per barrel (bbl) on 10.05.2016. This was lower than the price of US$ 42.68 per bbl on previous publishing day of 09.05.2016.

In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket decreased to Rs. 2797.02 per bbl on 10.05.2016 as compared to Rs. 2835.34 per bbl on 09.05.2016. Rupee closed weaker at Rs 66.72 per US$ on 10.05.2016 as against Rs 66.44 per US$ on 09.05.2016. The table below gives details in this regard:

Particulars	Unit	Price on May 10, 2016 (Previous trading day i.e. 09.05.2016)	Pricing Fortnight for 01.05.2016 (13 Apr to 27 Apr, 2016)
Crude Oil (Indian Basket)	($/bbl)	41.92 (42.68)	41.08
Crude Oil (Indian Basket)	(Rs/bbl	2797.02 (2835.34)	2732.23
Exchange Rate	(Rs/$)	66.72 (66.44)	66.51