The Treasury had budgeted Sh4.5 billion for sale of the items at a discounted price of Sh2,000, down from about Sh5,000.
Lawmakers on Thursday, backed the Treasury in reducing the budget by a third to Sh3 billion.
The plan is aimed at cutting reliance on kerosene and charcoal, but the National Assembly budget committee warned the cut could increase reliance on wood fuel among poor homes given the sharp rise in kerosene prices.
MPs voted to reduce the budget for supply of a million more six-kilogramme (kg) gas cylinders with cooking accessories at half price to poor homes by Sh1.5 billion
The Treasury had budgeted Sh4.5 billion for sale of the items at a discounted price of Sh2,000, down from about Sh5,000.
Lawmakers on Thursday, backed the Treasury in reducing the budget by a third to Sh3 billion.
The plan is aimed at cutting reliance on kerosene and charcoal, but the National Assembly budget committee warned the cut could increase reliance on wood fuel among poor homes given the sharp rise in kerosene prices.
The cost of Kerosene will increase to Sh112.15 a litre from Sh85 in June following the Sh3.10 increase in tax and the imposition of adulteration levy of Sh18 on the fuel.
“The reduction of Sh1.5 billion from this project is likely to reduce accessibility of low income households to cooking gas cylinders leaving wood fuel and charcoal as the only options,” said the committee.
The cylinders, dubbed Gas Yetu, will be distributed to across the country by State-owned marketer National Oil.
In May Kenya temporarily shelved its plan to provide cheap cooking gas to millions of poor households after the pre-qualified supplier delivered unsafe 6kg cylinders.
The Ministry of Energy and Petroleum confirmed that a consortium led by Allied East Africa Ltd, a Kenyan firm contracted to supply the government with the initial 300,000 Gas Yetu cylinders, provided defective appliances that are risky to the consumers.
The budget cut comes at a time when gas prices are on the rise in line with increasing petroleum costs.
Cooking gas is trading at levels last seen before the government removed value added tax (VAT) on the clean fuel.
Official data shows that the cost of refilling a 13-kg gas cylinder rose to an average of Sh2,250 last month.
Prices stood at an average of Sh2,231 in June 2016, and dropped to below Sh2,000 in October, four months after scrapping of the 16 per cent VAT.
Gas has become the preferred energy source for households that can afford it in major towns, due to its convenience and because it is cleaner than other cooking fuel.
The VAT removal was part of the government’s plan to wean rural homes off reliance on toxic firewood, kerosene and charcoal.
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