An LPG connection that marks the 2.5 crore milestone under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was given to Gouri Sarkar, a resident of Raghunathgunj, by president Pranab Mukherjee at Jangipur in West Bengal. This marked the completion of the release of 2.5 crore LPG connections to women beneficiaries from below poverty line (BPL) households across the country under PMUY.

 

While distributing PMUY connections to 11 beneficiaries, Mukherjee expressed his happiness to note that the PMUY has crossed the 2.5 crore connections within a span of 14 months.

 

PMUY was launched by prime minister Narendra Modi on May 1, 2016 at Ballia in Uttar Pradesh.

 

On the occasion, minister of state for petroleum and natural gas, Dharmendra Pradhan said after the launch of PMUY, more than 2.49 crore connections have been released till date. Out of which, largest number of connections (55 lakh) have been distributed in UP. He pointed out that 2nd largest number of LPG connections have been released in West Bengal. He added that to expand the reach of LPG in West Bengal, over 600 distributorships will be commissioned in the state out of which more than 50 distributorships will be commissioned in Murshidabad district.

 

PMUY is a scheme to provide clean cooking fuel to the women belonging to the below poverty line (BPL) households across the country. It aims to provide LPG connections to five crore BPL households by 2019 and is a part of larger programme of adding 10 crore new LPG connections by 2019 to achieve full coverage of connections in Indian households.