This month, LED hoardings inside several metro stations across Delhi show PM Narendra Modi on one side, CM Rekha Gupta on the other, and beaming Indian women in between. These are advertisements marking 12 years of the Modi government and celebrating the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) for making kitchens “Dhuan-Mukt” (smoke-free).

But what the boards don’t mention is that the government has just slashed the scheme’s benefits again. 

In June 2026, it cut subsidised LPG refills for PMUY beneficiaries from nine to four per annum, while holding the subsidy at Rs 300 per 14.2 kg cylinder. This is the second cut in two years – refills were trimmed from 12 to 9 in 2025 – even as the scheme is touted as having delivered over 10 crore LPG connections and pushed national coverage to “near saturation,” up from 62 percent in 2016. 

In Delhi, an LPG cylinder now costs Rs 942 for general consumers and Rs 642 for PMUY beneficiaries – but only for their first four refills a year; after that, beneficiaries pay full price too. 

This comes amid the recent increase in LPG prices. The........

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