Key points
- Delhi released about ₹142 crore by direct transfer to more than 15 lakh ration card families for the Diwali instalment.
- Families outside the Ujjwala scheme get ₹853, the price of one cylinder; Ujjwala families get ₹553 after the Centre's ₹300 subsidy.
- The scheme pays twice a year, at Holi and Diwali, and so a covered family gets two cylinders' worth of aid a year.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, released about ₹142 crore into the bank accounts of more than 15 lakh ration card families, the Diwali instalment of the city’s free LPG cylinder scheme. The money was sent from Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi by direct benefit transfer, and Food and Supplies Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa was listed to attend. The distribution was reported as completed; the exact time was not given.
No cylinders are handed out. Each eligible household gets cash equal to the price of one refill, paid into the Aadhaar-linked account of the head of the family, whether or not the household buys a cylinder this month.
What families get
The amount depends on the card. Families outside the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana get ₹853, the cylinder price the scheme was set on in February. Ujjwala households get ₹553, because the Centre’s ₹300 per cylinder subsidy is already counted. The Delhi government has said the final sum can change with LPG prices, central subsidies and the number of beneficiaries.
Households that cook on piped natural gas rather than LPG are covered too, as long as they hold a ration card. The reports on the scheme name no income limit beyond holding a ration card.
How the scheme came about
The Delhi Cabinet cleared the scheme on February 3, 2026, as the fulfilment of a promise the BJP made before the February 2025 assembly election. It pays at two festivals a year, Holi and Diwali, so a covered family receives the price of two cylinders over a year. Describing the decision that day, Gupta called it an “important and people-centric decision to provide relief from inflation to economically weaker families.” The next day’s report of the same decision quoted her calling it “targeted, transparent and accountable welfare”, and said the government had secured a budgetary commitment for it.
The government sanctioned about ₹242 crore for the scheme and in February put the yearly cost at about ₹242.77 crore, an estimate it said would be revised as prices and beneficiary numbers move; the ₹142 crore released for this one instalment shows that estimate has been overtaken. The scheme was formally launched in March at an event in Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, with President Droupadi Murmu presiding.
How a family gets the money
The scheme is universal among ration card holders: every household with a card in Delhi is covered, whether it cooks on LPG or on piped gas. A family does not apply for each festival. The payment is made at Holi and Diwali alike, and it is made even if the household did not refill a cylinder in that month, which separates it from a subsidy tied to a purchase.
The transfer goes to the Aadhaar-linked bank account of the head of the family, which is why the government has stressed that accounts must be seeded with Aadhaar. The two rates, ₹853 and ₹553, come from one rule: the Centre already gives Ujjwala households ₹300 on every cylinder, so Delhi pays only the balance and does not pay twice for the same refill.
Why it matters
For a family outside Ujjwala, the payment covers one full refill at the ₹853 price the scheme uses. For an Ujjwala family, which already gets the central subsidy, it covers the remainder of the cost. Commercial cylinder rates in Delhi have risen three times in a row, as we reported on the latest ₹10 hike, but the scheme is pegged to the domestic cylinder.
What next
The reports found for this story do not give a date for the next payment beyond the festival rhythm: the scheme pays again at Holi in 2027. Because the amount tracks the cylinder price, the government has said it can be revised as prices, central subsidies and the number of beneficiaries change.