The number of people without access to basic clean cooking facilities like LPG cookstoves have halved in India in the past decade since 2010, turning the country into a success story in this area, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
It said in a report today that the barriers to delivering on the promise of clean cooking for all are not technical, and what is encouraging and disturbing, in equal measure, is that this huge environmental, economic and human challenge could be solved with relatively modest investment.
“While addressing the issue is complex, there are success stories in India, China, and Indonesia, where those without access were halved last decade,” the report “A Vision for Clean Cooking Access for All” stated.
It said India’s success story demonstrates how focused national efforts backed by public funding can have an impact, with the country providing 2-4 per cent of its population with clean cooking each year.
The number of people globally without clean cooking fell from 3 billion in 2010 to 2.3 billion in 2022. China, India and Indonesia halved their populations without clean cooking access. These efforts relied largely on providing free stoves and subsidised canisters of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
Thanks to India’s “remarkable progress” it is reaping the benefits of wider access to clean cooking through increased productivity, reduced healthcare costs, and greater convenience, with implementation initiatives enjoying widespread political support.
Major progress in providing clean cooking has largely been driven by LPG, IEA said. “In India the number of people primarily cooking with LPG increased by nearly 300 million from 2015 to 2022, thanks to strong measures and schemes as the Pratyaksh Hanstantrit Labh (PAHAL), which has been subsidising LPG refills since 2015 and the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), which has provided more than 80 million deposit-free LPG connections to women in poor households since 2016,” according to the report.
India’s successful case study, as that of China and Indonesia, were reinforced by a high-level political vision, clear targets, a determined implementation plan, and effective distribution of subsidies and international funds, the report said.
During the same period (2010-20), the number of people without clean cooking access continued to grow in sub-Saharan Africa, where clean cooking campaigns did not to keep pace with population growth. According to the report, nearly 300 million people need to gain access to cleaner cooking means each year to ensure universal access by 2030.
