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Subsidised LPG Cylinder Quota set to be raised to 12: Oil Minister

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">No sooner than the Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi pitched for an increase in the number of subsidised domestic LPG cylinders from nine per household annually to 12, the Congress-led UPA Government on Friday said that the Cabinet will consider the proposal at the earliest.&nbsp;</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">This is despite the fact that such a move will have some impact on the already stressed exchequer.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">Gandhi, in his address at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) session here, pushed for raising the cap on domestic LPG cylinders. He referred to the Prime Minister and said nine subsidised cylinders were not enough, and the need is for 12. Later, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister M. Veerappa Moily said that a formal decision on this will be taken soon.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial"><strong>Cylinder Cost</strong></span></span></span><br /> <span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">A consumer in Delhi pays INR 410.50 for each of the subsidised cylinder against the cost price of INR 1,173.20. Currently, there are around 15 crore LPG connections. According to LPG dealers, around 90 percent connection holders have exhausted their existing quota of nine subsidised cylinders annually. If the cap is raised to 12, around 95-97 percent of the connections will get the benefit. On the subsidy outgo front, it would add about INR 3,500 crore more annually to the existing INR 42,000 crore annually on domestic LPG.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">Source-On Request</span></span></span></p>