Representative image.NEW DELHI: As many as 3.3 crore fake, ghost and duplicate LPG connections have been blocked, leading to saving of Rs 21,000 crore in subsidies, said oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
“When we assumed office (in 2014), we had a system of misdirected subsidies, rich and upper middle class were entitled to LPG subsidies. There were many duplicate connections and the subsidised LPG was diverted to commercial and industrial segments,” he said, addressing the Asia LPG Summit organized by World LPG Association here.
As a result, poorest of the poor never had access to LPG. In 2014, almost half of Indian households didn’t have LPG connections.
Pradhan said the Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG was launched in 2014 wherein subsidy was directly paid into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.
“This made the process transparent and plugged the subsidy leakages which was otherwise being misused through ghost accounts,” he said.
source”cnbc”
