NEW DELHI: Oil marketing companies have claimed subsidy on domestic LPG to the tune of Rs 1.1 lakh crore in the last three financial years, government has said.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told the Lok Sabha that LPG coverage has been going up in the last few years and the overall coverage stood at 61.9 per cent.

Public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) aim to increase the national LPG coverage to 75 per cent with minimum 60 per cent coverage at state level and at least one distributor in each block by 2019, the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas said during Question Hour. “OMCs have reported that they have claimed total subsidy/under recovery on domestic LPG during the last three years (2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16) for urban and rural customers is Rs 79,046 crore and Rs 31,921 crore which is 71.23 per cent and 28.76 per cent, respectively,” he said. The total amount comes to Rs 1,10,967 crore. The Minister said that under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, free LPG connections would be provided to five crore women belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families during 2016-19 period. “The overall LPG coverage in the country (i.E. Ratio of number of active consumers and number of households) is 61.9 per cent wherein rural LPG coverage is 35.6 per cent as on April 1, 2016,” he said. The Minister noted that OMCs are continuously engaged in increasing the penetration of LPG in rural areas by commissioning new LPG distributorships. With increase in coverage, especially in rural areas, “the dependence of rural population on solid fuels is coming down every year”, he added. — PTI