Union Minister Anurag Thakur announced on Wednesday that the government has hiked the subsidy paid to poor women who got cooking gas connections under the Ujjwala scheme to Rs 300 per cylinder from the current Rs 200.

Ujjwala beneficiaries currently pay Rs 703 per 14.2-kg cylinder as against the market price of Rs 903. After the decision of the Union Cabinet, they will now pay Rs. 603.

Earlier in September, the Union Cabinet had approved the expansion of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) in order to add 75 lakh poor households to the scheme’s beneficiary base over three years at an estimated cost of Rs 1,650 crore.