New Delhi: Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday was reported as saying that LPG customers of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) will continue to get cooking gas subsidy post-privatisation of India’s second-biggest fuel retailers.
A PTI report on Friday quoted the minister as saying, “Subsidy on LPG is paid to consumers directly and not to any company. So the ownership of the company that sells LPG is not of any material consequence.”
The government is selling its entire 53 per cent stake along with management control in BPCL. The new owner will get 15.33 per cent of India’s oil refining capacity and 22 per cent of the fuel marketing share.
As per the current provisions, the government gives 12 cooking gas (LPG) cylinders of 14.2-kg each to households in a year at a subsidised rate. This subsidy is directly paid into the bank accounts of the users.
The subsidy is paid in advance and consumers use this to buy LPG refills that are available only at market price from dealers of oil marketing companies i.e. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), BPCL and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL). The moment a refill is bought using the subsidy, another installment is transferred into the user bank accounts.
Pradhan said the LPG subsidy payment is done digitally to all verified customers.
