Tamil Nadu CM Vijay announces free LPG cylinders and expanded free bus travel for women

Chennai: Unveiling two populist schemes, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Monday announced three free LPG cylinders (reimbursement) a year for eligible families and a major expansion of free bus travel for women. Together, these schemes are expected to cost about ₹10,000 crore annually to the exchequer. While the LPG cylinder scheme would be rolled out from Pongal festival next year (January), the free bus travel expansion would be on from October 2, Gandhi Jayanti.CM Vijay: 3 free gas cylinders/year amount credited to bank account from next Pongal.But only families earning under ₹2.5 lakh can get it.Promised 6 for every family… now restricted.Big slap to TN people who got manipulated by freebie politics.#TNAssembly #TVKGovt pic.twitter.com/UAHh8iEVx1— ThamiZh (@ThamizhTharmar) August 24, 2026 Making separate suo motu announcements in the Assembly, Vijay said under the proposed “Annapoorani Super Six” scheme, eligible families will receive the benefit equivalent to three LPG cylinders every year, with the amount to be credited directly to their bank accounts after they purchase and receive the cylinders. The government expects the scheme to cover around 1.30 crore families and estimates its annual expenditure at about ₹4,000 crore.Full details of Chief Minister Joseph Vijay’s announcement made under Rule 110 regarding the provision of three free LPG cylinders per year under the Annapoorani Super Six scheme pic.twitter.com/B017xUEa9n— Vignesh Theni (@Vignesh_twitz) August 24, 2026 The scheme is intended to cover families with an annual income of up to ₹2.5 lakh, besides specified small and marginal farming families and families of persons with disabilities.In the run up to the Assembly elections, Vijay had announced all families would receive six LPG cylinders free annually. However, now an eligibility clause has been included and the reimbursement has been limited to three cylinders.In explaining the rationale, Vijay said the government was responding to the financial pressure faced by households in meeting cooking-fuel expenses in the wake of supply constraints and increased expenditure on LPG due to the ongoing war situation in the Gulf region.Chennai’s Wait For New Airport Gets Longer As CM Vijay Scraps Parandur Project Over Land Concerns, Seeks Alternative Site | Video The second announcement, “Vetri Payanam”, is an expansion of Tamil Nadu’s existing free bus travel scheme for women, which was launched during the erstwhile DMK regime.Vijay said the existing scheme allows women free travel on specified ordinary buses, with restrictions on distance and exclusions covering Express, LSS, Deluxe and mofussil services. Under the expanded scheme, from October 2, women will be able to travel free on Express, LSS and Deluxe government buses operating within cities and urban areas. Free travel will also be extended to ordinary buses operating on mofussil and hill routes, including for inter-district journeys.There will be no income ceiling and no restriction on the number of journeys under the scheme. Transgender persons will also be eligible. The government estimates that the expanded scheme will cost approximately ₹6,000 crore every year.(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)

The announcements come as the Vijay-led Tamil Nadu government rolls out welfare measures focusing on household expenses, women's mobility and social welfare.