Sustained LPG use requires progress on broader development outcomes

While the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana has been instrumental in increasing India’s liquefied petroleum gas adoption, sustained use depends on factors such as regularity of income and ease of access to free-of-cost biomass. To ensure sustained use after adoption, interventions in clean cooking energy must tie in with broader rural development.

Messages for Policy

• Although LPG use has increased since 2014–15, the lower odds of PMUY households using LPG as the primary or exclusive cooking fuel imply that further targeted interventions are needed to facilitate a complete and sustained energy transition.

• In areas with low LPG uptake, government schemes on rural livelihoods and employment guarantees should converge with LPG promotion to enable predictable cash flows (to pay for LPG refills) among rural households.

• Village-level targeting of LPG promotion could be an efficient approach in laggard areas to promote sustained use through community-level awareness campaigns and improved LPG availability.

• Promoting the use of biomass in alternative value chains — thereby creating an opportunity cost for free-of-cost biomass — will be critical to the cessation of solid fuel use in rural households.