Giving strong indications about doing away with the lPG subsidy for the well-off fraternity of the society, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said that it was very much on the NDA Government’s agenda.
“The next important decision India will have to take is whether people like me... (are) entitled to get our lPG subsidy,” Jaitley said at the HT leadership Summit.
“I think the sooner we are able to take these decisions as to who is entitled to these subsidies, of course some people would be, the better it would be for our system. These decisions are all on our agenda,” he added.
Currently, 12 cylinders are available to consumers at a subsidised rate of Rs 414 each (in Delhi). Any requirement beyond this will have to be purchased at the market price of Rs 880 per 14.2-kg cylinder.
The Finance Minister further said that “once political leadership, particularly the man on the top, has decisiveness, the most complicated of the decisions will also become simple. One does not have to wait for years to decide on coal blocks or what to do with spectrum or natural resources, or with diesel pricing or with gas pricing.”