India’s Clean Cooking Shift

The report argues that India's reliance on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and piped natural gas (PNG) creates energy security risks and fiscal burdens due to high import dependence and subsidies. It advocates for a shift toward decentralized biogas for rural households and e-cooking for urban areas to align with net-zero goals. Fieldwork in Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand shows that biogas is highly satisfactory and reduces firewood use by 70%, though high upfront costs remain a barrier. In urban centers like Delhi and Bengaluru, e-cooking is found to be cheaper in operational expenditure than LPG or PNG, with the potential to save the government up to INR 2.4 trillion in subsidies by 2050 under a high-growth scenario.

• India's clean cooking expansion has led to a heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels; LPG consumption rose from ~15 MMT in 2011/12 to ~31 MMT in 2024/25, with over 93% of that increase met through imports.
• Biogas adoption in India remains very low, with only 0.3% of all households (0.4% of rural households) using it as their primary cooking fuel, despite the availability of government subsidies.
• Fieldwork indicates that biogas users are highly satisfied, reporting that the fuel is as efficient as LPG with nearly identical cooking times, and that adoption leads to a sustained 70% reduction in firewood usage.
• Prefabricated biogas models offer several advantages over civil-construction models, including shorter installation times (1-2 days versus 12-15 days), a smaller footprint, and better performance in alpine climates with heavy rains or winter cold.
• The upfront cost of biogas plants is a major barrier; even with a 40% government subsidy, the remaining cost of approximately INR 24,000 (USD 273) is unaffordable for most rural households.
• E-cooking is more cost-effective in terms of operational expenditure for most Indian households than LPG or PNG, with annual costs of INR 5,800–5,900 compared to INR 6,800–6,900 for fossil fuels.
• Urban e-cooking adoption could significantly reduce India's fiscal and energy burdens, potentially halving LPG demand and delivering subsidy savings of up to INR 2.4 trillion by 2050 under a high-growth scenario.
• Low-income urban households face specific barriers to e-cooking adoption, including a lack of formal electricity connections and the use of shared meters, which excludes them from government electricity subsidies.

APA

Mani, S., Kohli, G., Sharma, S., Limaye, G., & Alsulaiman, A. (2026). India’s Clean Cooking Shift. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2026-02/india-clean-cooking.pdf

Chicago

Mani, Sunil, Gunjan Kohli, Shruti Sharma, Gaurav Limaye, and Abdurahman Alsulaiman. India’s Clean Cooking Shift. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2026. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2026-02/india-clean-cooking.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mani |first1=Sunil |last2=Kohli |first2=Gunjan |last3=Sharma |first3=Shruti |last4=Limaye |first4=Gaurav |last5=Alsulaiman |first5=Abdurahman |title=India’s Clean Cooking Shift |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=February 2026 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2026-02/india-clean-cooking.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mani2026indias, author = {Mani, Sunil and Kohli, Gunjan and Sharma, Shruti and Limaye, Gaurav and Alsulaiman, Abdurahman}, title = {{India’s Clean Cooking Shift}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2026}, month = feb, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2026-02/india-clean-cooking.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }