New Delhi, Dec 26 || The number of beneficiaries under the government’s flagship Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, aimed to ensure universal access to clean cooking fuel, touched 10.35 crore as on December 1, 2025, according to Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on Friday.
Affordability of LPG was supported through a targeted subsidy of Rs 300 per 14.2 kg cylinder for up to nine refills per year for PMUY beneficiaries. This intervention resulted in a steady rise in LPG consumption. Average per capita consumption increased from about three refills in 2019-20 to 4.47 refills in FY 2024-25 and further to a pro-rated level of about 4.85 refills per annum during FY 2025-26, indicating sustained adoption of clean cooking fuel.
To clear pending applications and achieve saturation of LPG access, the government approved the release of 25 lakh additional LPG connections during FY 2025-26. Subsidy targeting and transparency was improved with the acceleration of Aadhaar authentication. As on December 1, 2025, biometric authentication covered 71 per cent of PMUY consumers and 62 per cent of non-PMUY consumers, the statement said.