India says its clean cooking gas scheme could be adopted by Global South

India increased the number of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections to 330 million households by 2024, more than 2.3 times compared to the numbers a decade ago, virtually covering almost the entire population of 1.4 billion with one gas connection catering to four to five people in a household.

“I think we have a success story on clean cooking gas” which is “reasonably priced and there is scope for replicating this in other countries of the Global South,” the minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in a recent interview with Nikkei Asia.

LPG is a clean fuel and a mixture of hydrocarbons, mainly propane and butane, and is obtained as a by-product during the refining of crude oil or processing of natural gas. It is supplied to households in cylinders in liquid form.

For widespread adoption of clean cooking fuel, the government launched a scheme called the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in 2016 to provide LPG connections to adult women from poor households across the country who often relied on traditional cooking methods. These include burning of solid fuels like wood, cow dung and crop residues which was detrimental to their health and the environment in general. Under the program, beneficiaries get free LPG connections and an initial fuel refill.

Puri said that over 100 million LPG connections have been released so far under the scheme, as part of which beneficiaries receive access to fuel at a highly affordable cost of just 7 cents per day, while other consumers can use it at 15 cents per day. The LPG coverage in the country has improved from 62% in April 2016 to “near saturation” by August last year, according to a government statement.

Clean cooking gas “is a very major achievement in India,” Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri says in an interview with Nikkei Asia. (Photo by Satoshi Iwaki)

Puri chaired a ministerial roundtable on the subject during the India Energy Week 2025 from Feb. 11 to 14 in New Delhi, and representatives from countries such as Brazil, Tanzania, Malawi, Sudan and Nepal, and industry leaders, including the International Energy Agency, Total Energy, and Boston Consulting Group attended the session.

Puri said that a game plan and timelines would be in place by February 2026 on how further progress can be made on extending affordable, clean cooking fuel among other countries.

According to the World Health Organization, around 2.1 billion people worldwide — about a third of the global population — cook using open fires or inefficient stoves fueled by kerosene; biomass such as wood, animal dung and crop waste; and coal, which generates harmful household air pollution.

“Household air pollution was responsible for an estimated 3.2 million deaths per year in 2020, including over 237,000 deaths of children under the age of 5,” a WHO factsheet released in October last year said. “Women and children, typically responsible for household chores such as cooking collecting firewood, bear the greatest health burden from the use of polluting fuels and technologies in homes.”

In India, rural households, particularly those in remote locations, often spent a significant portion of their time and energy in collecting traditional cooking fuels. LPG, the government statement said, has reduced drudgery and the time spent on cooking by women of poor households. The free time, thus, can be utilized in multiple spheres for enhanced economic productivity.

The transition to LPG also cuts down the wood dependency and other biomass for cooking purposes, leading to a decrease in deforestation and environmental degradation.

SOURCE : asia.nikkei