India hikes DA by 4 percent, extends Rs 200 LPG subsidy by 1 year

In a move to benefit 9.6 crore families, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Friday extended the subsidy of Rs 200 per LPG cylinder under Ujjwala Yojana for one year.

The union cabinet approved a subsidy of Rs 200 per 14.2 kg cylinder for up to 12 refills per year to be provided to the beneficiaries of PMUY, I&B Minister Anurag Thakur told reporters.

Further, the minister said the total expenditure will be Rs 6,100 crore for the financial year 2022-23 and Rs 7,680 crore for 2023-24. The subsidy is credited directly to the bank accounts of the eligible beneficiaries.

Thakur said there has been a sharp increase in international prices of LPG due to various geopolitical reasons and it is important to shield PMUY beneficiaries from high LPG prices.

Also, the Cabinet approved the release of an additional installment of Dearness Allowance to central government employees and Dearness Relief to pensioners, due from January 1, 2023.

The additional installment will represent an increase of 4 percent over the existing rate of 38 percent of the basic pay or pension, to compensate for the price rise.

The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief would be Rs.12,815.60 crore per annum and this will benefit about 47.58 lakh central government employees and 69.76 lakh pensioners.

Further, the government approved Minimum Support Price (MSP) for raw jute at Rs 5,050 per quintal for the 2023-24 season, ensuring a return of 63.20 percent over the all-India weighted average cost of production.

"The approval is based on recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP)," Thakur said. The MSP of Raw Jute (TD-3 equivalent to earlier TD-5 grade) has been fixed at Rs 5,050 per quintal for the 2023-24 season.

The announced MSP of raw jute for the 2023-24 season is in line with the principle of fixing the MSP at a level of at least 1.5 times all India weighted average cost of production as announced by the government in the Budget 2018-19, an official release said.

The Jute Corporation of India (JCI) will continue as the central government nodal agency to undertake price support operations and the losses incurred, if any, in such operations, will be fully reimbursed by the central government.