SUBSIDISED LPG CYLINDERS TO BE RAISED TO 12: MOILY

Shortly after Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi called for raising the cap on subsidised cooking gas cylinders, Petroleum Minister M. Veerappa Moily Friday announced that the yearly quota of LPG cylinders will be hiked to 12 from the current nine per household.

'Yes, the cap will be increased,' Moily said after Gandhi made the demand to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) session here.

'We need 12 cylinders, nine cylinders are not sufficient. People of India and its womenfolk want 12 cylinders,' Gandhi told party delegates as they chanted 'Rahul, Rahul'.

Moily had told reporters recently that a final decision in the matter will be taken by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA).

'If that proposal (for hiking the LPG cap) comes, we need to examine pros and cons. Ultimately, the decision will be taken by the CCEA (Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs) or CCPA (Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs),' he said at the Petrotech 2014 international oil and gas conference.

Moily said he had read reports on Rahul Gandhi taking up the issue of increasing the LPG cap with the prime minister.

'I am yet to get comments from the Congress vice president or the prime minister,' he added.

Raising the cap to 12 cylinders would result in an additional fuel subsidy burden of between Rs.3,300 crore-Rs.5,800 crore for the government.

If the quota is raised, about 97 percent of LPG consumers would get subsidised LPG, Moily said.