Maharashtra gave up most LPG subsidies

With more than 17.05 lakh households responding to the appeal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Maharashtra topped the list of states that have given up the LPG subsidy.

With more than 17.05 lakh households responding to the appeal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Maharashtra topped the list of states that have given up the LPG subsidy.

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The state accounts for 15% of the 1.04 crore households that have participated in the scheme across the country. In Maharashtra, Pune topped the number of households that gave up the subsidy.

Maharashtra, which has 2.37 crore connections, is much ahead of Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, which stand second (12.60 lakh connections) and third (7.45 lakh) in relinquishing the subsidy. Modi’s home state Gujarat has given up 4.55 lakh subsidised connections.

In Pune, 3.03 lakh households have opted out of the subsidy, followed by Mumbai suburbs (2.62 lakh) and Thane (1.72 lakh). More than 63,000 families from the island city and 1.02 lakh households from Nagpur have relinquished their subsidy, according to the data provided by the food and civil supplies department.

“The local unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party took efforts to encourage more people, as the district was lagging behind,” said an official from the food and civil supplies department.

The government bears the subsidy on 12 cylinders a year. The subsidy amount varies based on the global price of crude oil. In July, the subsidy was Rs90.61 for a cylinder.

Ravi Srivastava, oil industry expert and former chief manager of Hindustan Petroleum, said if corruption in distribution is reduced, there would be no need for subsidy.