New Delhi, 10 August

Around 3.4 lakh beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) in Karnataka continue to go an entire year without purchasing even a single LPG refill, according to data provided by the Union Government in the Rajya Sabha in response to a question raised by MP Mansoor Ali Khan.

The situation in some other states is much worse. Over 21 Lakh Ujjwala Beneficiaries in West Bengal, 20 Lakh in UP Took No LPG Refill in 2025–26.

The Government informed Parliament that India currently has approximately 10.57 crore PMUY connections. While the scheme was launched to provide deposit-free LPG connections to women from poor households, the data on actual cylinder usage points to significant variations in refill consumption. In Karnataka, as many as 2.98 lakh PMUY beneficiaries took just one refill, while 3.33 lakh beneficiaries took two refills and 32.66 lakh took three or more refills. 

In fact since the number of beneficiaries with nil refill has increased from 1.64 lakh in 2021-2022 to 3.4 lakh in 2025-2026.

At the national level, the Government stated that average consumption among PMUY beneficiaries has improved from 3.68 cylinders per connection in 2021–22 to 4.71 cylinders in 2025–26. However, significant disparities remain. In 2025–26, average consumption was only 2.52 cylinders in Chhattisgarh, 2.90 in Meghalaya, 3.63 in Tripura and 3.65 in Assam, compared with the national average of 4.71. Karnataka stood above the national average at 5.49 cylinders per connection. 

A connection is meaningful only when families can afford to use it 

Commenting on the Government's response, Mansoor Ali Khan, Member of Parliament said: “The Government's own figures show that lakhs of beneficiaries in several states are going through an entire financial year without taking even one refill. In West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh alone, more than 42 lakh beneficiaries took no refill in 2025–26. We need to ask why.”

He added: “A clean cooking fuel connection is meaningful only when a family can afford to use it regularly. If beneficiaries are unable to refill cylinders, there is a real risk of households returning to firewood, biomass and other traditional fuels. The focus now must move from the number of connections distributed to sustained LPG usage and affordability among low-income households.”

The Government in its reply said LPG consumption among PMUY beneficiaries is regularly monitored and acknowledged that household LPG consumption depends on several factors, including price and the availability of alternative fuels, apart from household size, food and cooking habits. 

Khan said the data makes a case for a closer assessment of why zero-refill households remain so high in certain states, whether affordability is a significant barrier, and what interventions are required to ensure that access to LPG translates into sustained clean-fuel usage.