By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, September 6, 2016 : The Narendra Modi government plans to step up liquefied petroleum gas [LPG] penetration to a minimum of 70 per cent in Odisha by December 2018, setting a target of increasing the customer base to more than 75 lakh, a senior IOCL officer said on Tuesday.

“To achieve the target, we will release 30 lakh new liquified petroleum gas connections under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) and another 10 lakh under the normal release (Above Poverty Line category) by December 2018,” said Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. Chief LPG Manager and state nodal officer G. Swaminathan here.

He said 201,344 families have already been brought within the LPG network under a central scheme while the government aims to reach 3.47 lakh more families in the coming days.

Swaminathan said the state-run oil marketing companies have implemented the PMUY programmes in all 314 blocks of the state.

A total of 320 programmes were organised in these 314 blocks, apart from functions in local bodies etc., he added.

The LPG penetration has increased to more than 40 per cent in the state, as compared with the national average of 64 per cent.