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Subsidies to liquefied petroleum gas in India: an assessment of the direct benefit transfer in Mysore

This paper analyzes the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Mysore, India. The DBT is an initiative of the Indian central government to develop an electronic payment system for centrally funded social protection schemes. Under the DBT-for-LPG subsidies (DBTL), households would order an LPG cylinder from their LPG distributor, receive a payment equivalent to the current subsidy amount via electronic transfer to their bank account, then pay the full (unsubsidized) market price for the cylinder in cash on delivery. Mysore, a district in Karnataka state, was selected as one of 20 pilot districts for the introduction of DBTL. In early October 2013, the GSI conducted structured interviews with 120 beneficiaries in five taluks (administrative sub-divisions) of Mysore district to assess the DBTL in the areas of subsidy qualification and receipt, access to the LPG subsidy and impacts on household behaviour.