Govt to tie up with MFIs for LPG refills

The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) is likely to get a new financing model, with microfinance institutions (MFIs) brought in to encourage savings among consumers for refilling their cooking gas cylinders.

“We are in talks with a few such organisations and experts in the sector to come up with a savings model, through which poor people can deposit a share of their money, depending on LPG (cooking gas) prices on a daily basis,” said an official.

According to sources, the ministry of petroleum and natural gas is, among others, talking to Lucknow-based MicroSave, an international financial inclusion consultancy, which has advised the United Nations, International Finance Corporation and the Gates Foundation.

PMUY, launched in May 2016, set targets for the government's oil marketing companies — Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPC) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPC) — to provide connections to 50 million families below the poverty line over three years. With government support of Rs 1,600 per connection. The three have added 32 million consumers under the scheme.
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