North-east may get up to ₹1,000 crore as gas subsidy

The allocation, however, will be lower than the ₹1,633.02 crore outlay announced for FY24

- Rituraj Baruah

The Centre may allocate around ₹800-1,000 crore as subsidy on the sale of natural gas under the administered price mechanism (APM) in North-eastern states for FY25, said two people in the know of the development.

The ministry of petroleum and natural gas is likely to propose to the finance ministry to allocate the amount in the upcoming Union budget. The allocation which will be made under the head of "other subsidy payable including for North Eastern Region", if approved, would lower than ₹1,633.02 crore outlay announced in the previous budget (for FY24). The allocation had been increased from ₹811 crore in FY23.

"Allocation for APM gas sale in the North-east for supporting the growth of PNG (piped natural gas) may be about ₹800-1,000 crore. This will be among the proposals to be made for the budget by the (petroleum) ministry," said one of the two people mentioned above.

Queries sent to the ministries of petroleum and natural gas, and finance remained unanswered at press time.