should india shift from LPG cooking

 The debate needs to move from LPG subsidy alone to financing and business models that value a clean cooking transition because of the environmental benefits

(LPG) adoption 

Over the last 15 years, the Government of India has attempted to replicate / repeat the success that liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) adoption has seen in urban households, in poorer and rural households.

The Grameen Vitrak Yojana

 launched in 2009, has helped grow the rural distributor base from 18% to 60% of the total LPG distributor base today. 

The ambitious Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)

has provided more than 9.5 crore new households with LPG connections since 2016.

 With near-universal coverage of LPG, this is nothing short of an administrative and operational miracle.

LPG consumption 

 However, for the first time, LPG consumption in Indian households saw an absolute reduction in FY23 (minus 0.5% versus FY22) after years of steady growth. 

The questions are: how long must India consider just subsidising LPG to improve adoption? And what are the other options that it can explore?

The LPG story

share of Indian households using LPG as the primary cooking fuel 

 1 according to the India Residential Energy Consumption Survey (IRES) conducted by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) 

2 In the recent past, the share of Indian households using LPG as the primary cooking fuel had risen to 71% in 2020 from 33% in 2011.

3 want clean cooking solutions -  It was a clear indication that Indian households wanted to adopt clean cooking solutions, and policy could overcome ‘preferences’ and financial barriers.

किस चीज ने उपभोग को प्रभावित किया होगा  

1 However, global events that unfolded since the COVID-19 pandemic

 and the ensuing loss of livelihoods and income on the one hand and 

2 the Russian invasion of Ukraine and 

the resulting surge and volatility in crude and product prices on the other, have dented even a near-term prospect of universal use of LPG in Indian households.

3 In 2020, with the onset of COVID-19, subsidy for LPG consumption was withdrawn for all consumers.

Then, in FY21, three free cylinders were provided  

Then, in FY21, three free cylinders were provided to all PMUY consumers as part of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana. 

This drove the annual refill rates for LPG among PMUY consumers to their highest levels of 4.55 cylinders per active connection (from three to four cylinders in other years). 

However, of the possible 24 crore free cylinders available for the taking, only 14.1 crore were actually consumed.

nominal subsidy of ₹200 per cylinder 

Further, a nominal subsidy of ₹200 per cylinder was reinstated / started  for PMUY consumers in September 2022, and it helped improve refill rates in FY23 (4.09) versus FY22 (3.68). 

Average refill rates for active non-PMUY consumers are in slow decline — 40% of PMUY consumers choose to get two or less refills in a year now.

despite significant efforts needs us 

•  home delivery 
• and distribution channel issues remain 
• and more budgetary outlay will be needed for subsidies to entice / attract the poor to consume LPG and avail its health benefits.

• Another challenge is that India’s dependence on imported LPG—     the refined commodity — has steadily increased to over 64% in FY23 (versus 46% in the pre-PMUY phase).
• 
  

doubling in LPG prices     

Further, Indian households have seen a near-doubling in LPG prices since May 2020 in nominal terms.

 With volatile international prices, especially since the Russian war against Ukraine,

 and a domestic budget that relies on petroleum (and its products) taxation significantly, 

it is unlikely  / not possible that India can return to a regime where a subsidy of approximately INR20,000 crore (2011-12 prices) was provided each year for LPG consumption over the first two decades of the 21st century.

Diversity in clean cooking

what is required 

 1 adoption of a suite of clean-cooking technologies and shift from an LPG-only strategy. 

2 For example, electric cooking

•  including induction cook-tops, can significantly offset the need for flame-based cooking. 

• With near 100% access to electricity connections, rural households can also shift specific cooking needs to electricity. 

• cheaper than cooking using LPG   - A CEEW study finds that even at a high tariff of ₹8 for each unit of electricity, e-cooking would still be cheaper than cooking using LPG at today’s prices. 

• there areconcerns about the power distribution grid in rural India and its ability to support all-electric cooking, given the high power needs of the extant technology.

• In urban areas, nearly 10% of households already use electrical appliances for their cooking needs. 

e-cooking 

One possible mechanism to nudge  / support the shift to e-cooking could be through telescopically 

increasing LPG prices beyond a threshold (say, seven cylinders that the average household consumes today). 

This could displace LPG in higher-use groups and, in turn, create a demand for new e-cooking technologies and models, and precipitate a bandwagon effect.

loss or profit ? 

इन शुरुआती अपनाने वालों की मांग ई-कुकिंग प्रौद्योगिकियों के लिए घरेलू विनिर्माण पारिस्थितिकी तंत्र को प्रेरित कर सकती है और आयातित एलपीजी और कच्चे तेल पर निर्भरता और कीमती विदेशी मुद्रा के बहिर्वाह को रोक सकती है। 

भारतीय घरों की जरूरतों के लिए दक्षता और डिजाइन को अपनाने के लिए निर्माताओं को अंतरिम रूप से लक्षित समर्थन की आवश्यकता है - शुरुआत के लिए एक डिवाइस में गैस और इलेक्ट्रिक कुकटॉप के बारे में क्या ख्याल है?

 चूल्हों का विस्थापन'ई-कुकिंग से जलवायु प्रदूषक उत्सर्जन से भी बचा जा सकेगा। 

नए लॉन्च किए गए कार्बन बाजार के साथ, भारत वास्तव में इन बचाए गए उत्सर्जन का मुद्रीकरण कर सकता है और गरीब ग्रामीण समुदायों को ई-खाना पकाने को अपनाने के लिए आवश्यक पूंजी को वित्तपोषित करने में मदद कर सकता है।

 बहस को केवल एलपीजी सब्सिडी से आगे बढ़कर वित्तपोषण और व्यवसाय मॉडल की ओर ले जाने की जरूरत है, जो समाधानों के एक समूह के माध्यम से भारत की जलवायु और स्वच्छ वायु लाभों के लिए स्वच्छ खाना पकाने के बदलाव को महत्व देते हैं।