By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, SEPT 07, 2019: PRIME Minister Mr Narendra Modi will be handing over eight crore connection under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) at an event which will be organised in Sendra, Aurangabad, Maharashtra on Sep 07, 2019. This Yojna was basically launched on May 01, 2016 from Ballia, Uttar Pradesh to provide eight crore deposit free LPG connections to poor households in the country.  The Scheme aims to provide clean cooking fuel to poor households and replace the unhealthy conventional cooking fuels such as firewood, cowdung, etc.

Three State owned Oil Marketing Companies i.e. IOCL, BPCL and HPCL have implemented the Scheme in all the States/UTs of the country in a mission mode and achieved the target of 8 crore connections, seven months ahead of the timelines set (March 2020). The States of Uttar Pradesh (1.46 crore), West Bengal (88 lakh), Bihar (85 lakh), Madhya Pradesh (71 lakh) and Rajasthan (63 lakh) have topped the list with highest number of beneficiaries under the PMUY. Nearly 40% of the beneficiaries belong to SC/ST categories, whereas, the implementation of PMUY has earned domestic as well as global appreciation at various Forums.