Ultimately it took one statement from Congress heir apparent and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi, and Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily wasted no time in announcing that the subisidised lPG cap would be hiked from the existing nine cylinders per family annually to 12.
Gandhi while addressing the AICC session on Friday, made a passionate demand for raising the lPG cap to 12 cylinders amid loud cheers, and just minutes later Moily confirmed that the cap would be hiked.
"Yes, the cap will be increased," Moily said soon after Gandhi made the demand to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the AICC session.
The Pioneer had first reported on December 13, 2013, just days after the Congress had suffered defeats in assembly polls held in four key north Indian states, that the UPA Government while keeping an eye on lok Sabha polls, was seriously mulling a hike in the lPG cap.
Moily, who till last week had maintained that there was no proposal for raising the quota of subsidised lPG cylinders a household is entitled to in a year, said the decision will be announced after the Cabinet approves of it.
The Petroleum Minister confirmed that the Cabinet would "soon" take a decision in the matter. In fact last month when Finance Minister P Chidambaram had told media persons after a Cabinet briefing that the Government had received the demand for raising the cap from various states, Moily had flatly denied any such move.
This sudden change in tune suggests the prevailing mood within the UPA Government, which is keen to adopt populist measures to score some brownie points even as just 90 days are left for lok Sabha polls.
Gandhi at the AICC session stated that 9 cylinders were not enough for households and there was a need to increase this quota to 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg.
Moily had earlier this week stated that 89.2 per cent of the 15 crore lPG consumers use up to nine cylinders in a year and only 10 per cent have to buy the additional requirement at the market price.
If the quota is raised to 12, about 97 per cent of the lPG consumers would be covered by subsidised lPG, he had said.
Increasing the limit to 12 would result in an additional fuel subsidy burden of Rs 3,300 crore-5,800 crore for the government, officials said.
With a view to cutting its subsidy bill, the Government had initially capped the supply of subsidised domestic lPG cylinders to six per household in a year in September 2012.
The annual quota was raised to nine in January 2013. Consumers who have exhausted their quota have to buy lPG at the market price of Rs 1,258 per cylinder. Subsidised lPG costs Rs 414 per 14.2-kg cylinder in Delhi.