Increased budgetary expenditure for MoPNG in Union Budget 2018-19

Under the Union Budget 2018-19, the government has proposed an expenditure of Rs 311.01 billion (budget estimate) for the MoPNG during 2018-19. This is an increase of Rs 19.44 billion from the Rs 291.57 billion proposed for the preceding fiscal year. The government also decided to increase the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) subsidy to cover 80 million below poverty line families under the Ujjawala Yojana, cut the excise duty on branded and unbranded petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre, and allocate Rs 16.74 billion as capital expenditure for GAIL’s Phulpur-Dhamra-Haldia pipeline project.