Time Has Come to Think on Income Bracket for Subsidy: Oil Minister

The central government has once again appealed to affluent consumers to give up the LPG subsidy.

The NDA government is said to be considering a plan to lift the subsidy on LPG cylinder for consumers whose annual income is above Rs 10 lakh, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu had said on Friday.

Pradhan said recently Finance Minister Arun Jaitley asked him whether it was time to limit LPG subsidies to a few income bracket.

He said voluntary surrender of LPG subsidies was the lowest in the East, while the figure for Kolkata was less than one lakh as against the national total of 46 lakh. Why do they need subsidy?

“Since the time of implementation of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), the government has saved Rs.15,000 crore”. They (the government) are also planning to not give subsidy to consumers whose income is above Rs 10 lakh.

Naidu maintained that all the government subsidies would soon be directly transferred to the bank accounts of beneficiaries.

Naidu was speaking at an awards function organised by Federation of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Chambers of Commerce.

“The aim is to help meet the additional LPG demand in the eastern states”, the minister said, adding that LPG pipelines are being built in Haldia and Durgapur in West Bengal, Barauni, Patna and Muzaffarpur in Bihar to connect them with the terminal. The opposition should also cooperate with the government in pursuing these reforms.

Referring to the recent FDI reforms announced by the government in 15 sectors, he said the move would boost investment environment and bring in more foreign investment into the country.