The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) is a social welfare scheme launched by the Government of India on May 1, 2016, in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MOPNG). The scheme's core objective is to provide clean cooking fuel, specifically Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), to rural and deprived households that traditionally relied on polluting fuels like firewood, coal, and cow-dung cakes. This reliance on traditional fuels caused severe indoor air pollution, which was linked to serious health hazards, including acute respiratory illnesses and lung diseases, particularly affecting women and children.
The PMUY mechanism provides a deposit-free LPG connection to eligible women beneficiaries from Below Poverty Line (BPL) households. The government provides financial support of ₹1,600 for each connection, which covers the security fee for the cylinder, pressure regulator, and other fittings. The scheme initially targeted 50 million connections, which was later revised to 80 million households by March 2020.
A significant change came with Ujjwala 2.0, announced in the Union Budget for FY 2021-22, which aimed to release an additional 1 crore LPG connections. Ujjwala 2.0 provided the first refill and a hotplate free of cost to beneficiaries, along with the deposit-free connection, and included a special facility for migrant households with minimal paperwork. The scheme is closely connected to the PAHAL scheme, which allows beneficiaries to receive the subsidy amount directly in their bank accounts. Furthermore, the Union Cabinet has extended a subsidy of ₹300 per LPG cylinder for up to 12 refills per year for PMUY beneficiaries. The scheme has significantly increased India's LPG coverage from 62% in May 2016 to 99.8% by April 1, 2021.