Critically evaluate the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana's targeted subsidy approach in achieving universal clean cooking fuel access.

Launched in May 2016, the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) offers deposit-free LPG connections to women of poor households, backed by a targeted subsidy of ₹300 per 14.2-kg cylinder [1]. The design has decisively widened access, but converting connections into sustained clean-fuel use remains only partly achieved.

Merits of the targeted approach

• Scale of access: about 10.33 crore PMUY connections as on 01.07.2025 [1], taking India close to near-universal LPG coverage.
• Fiscal discipline through targeting: support is confined to PMUY households rather than a universal dole, with the FY 2025-26 outlay capped at ₹12,000 crore [1]; the effective Delhi price falls to about ₹503 per cylinder [1].
• Health and gender dividend: displacing biomass reduces household air pollution and the drudgery of fuel collection borne by rural women [2].
• Deepening usage: average per-capita refills rose from 3.68 (2021-22) to 4.47 (2024-25) [3], aided by deferment of loan recovery from subsidy, the 5-kg swap option and LPG Panchayats [3].

Limitations

• Refill gap: 4.47 refills a year is well short of the roughly twelve needed for exclusive LPG cooking; fuel stacking with firewood and dung persists.
• Narrowing support: subsidised refills were trimmed from twelve to nine per year [1], diluting affordability just as usage needs to rise.
• Upfront cash burden: refills are paid first and reimbursed later through DBT, a real constraint for cash-poor families.
• Off-budget cost: residual under-recovery on domestic LPG is absorbed by oil-marketing companies and partly recovered by raising commercial cylinder prices, shifting the burden onto PSU balance sheets and small enterprises.
• Last-mile gaps in remote, hilly and tribal areas.

PMUY has solved the access problem; the unfinished task is affordable, sustained consumption. Linking subsidy to refill frequency, strengthening rural distribution and blending LPG with solar and biogas would carry the scheme from connection to conversion, advancing SDG-7 on affordable clean energy.