Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government is preparing to launch a scheme to provide three free cooking gas (LPG) cylinders per year, beginning with the Pongal festival in January 2027. As part of the rollout, the state is collecting details of LPG connection holders from public sector oil marketing companies.
The initiative, to be implemented in the first phase under the “Annapoorani Super Six” programme, will credit the equivalent amount to beneficiaries’ bank accounts. The government estimates that about 1.30 crore families will benefit from the scheme.
According to officials, eligibility is expected to cover families with annual income up to Rs 2.5 lakh, small and marginal farmers, and families of persons with disabilities, among others. The state has indicated an annual allocation of around Rs 4,000 crore for the programme, which Chief Minister Vijay recently announced in the Assembly.
With Pongal about three months away, the government has begun the process of identifying beneficiaries. A finance department official said Aadhaar-linked ration cards provide some LPG linkage information, but more accurate data is being sought, including the number of households with one or two cylinder connections and the count of beneficiaries who received free LPG connections under the Prime Minister’s Ujjwala scheme.
The government also plans to collect information through applications from ration card holders, with verification to be carried out through the state’s e-governance agency. The scheme is intended to cover three cylinders annually—around Pongal, Tamil New Year and Deepavali—with the amount to be deposited into beneficiaries’ bank accounts in the days preceding each festival.
