A Compendium of Policy Initiatives for the Clean Cooking Sector in India
India’s long-term goal of greening the economy and reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels is shaping India’s policies towards energy transition. The green economy offers an alternative vision for growth and development which can generate economic development and bring improvements in people’s lives. One significant component of a green economy strategy has been to promote the development and adoption of sustainable technologies and their use in people’s day-to-day lives like cooking or transportation. In such endeavour, regulatory policies have a critical role to play in providing the foundation for accelerating the transformation.
With India becoming an electric surplus nation and massive growth in power distribution infrastructure, cooking with electricity is increasingly feasible in India and offers households and catering establishments the possibility of much safer and more comfortable cooking environment, consistent with a modern economy. Further, the shift towards increased renewable energy generation can go hand in hand with the transition to cleaner cooking in India as money previously spent by cooks and the Government on charcoal, kerosene or imported LPG can be used to support the electricity sector and domestically generated green power.
Fortunately, India is endowed with ample green energy resources and is already a leader in renewable energy with around 200 GW installed capacity. The availability of different sources of renewable energy provides ample opportunity and avenues for innovation-led development in the clean cooking sector. In particular, solar energy can be directly used for cooking with the help of technologies like solar thermal cookers or through the photovoltaic channel with the use of eCooking devices like Induction cookstoves, Infrared Radiant cookstoves, Microwave Oven, Air fryers, etc. With a large surplus of biomass and other waste available in the country, biogas generation from these resources holds a huge potential to cater to the cooking energy needs in rural areas which face challenges of their own.
In India’s dynamic energy landscape, government initiatives and policies have emerged as pivotal drivers propelling the growth of renewable energy and its usage. A spectrum of measures, including financial incentives, subsidies, and regulatory frameworks, has been strategically implemented to catalyse the widespread adoption of solar and other renewable energy sources for cooking purposes. Central government schemes such as the National Solar Mission, PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), National Efficient Cooking Programme, Star Labelling for Induction Stove,National Green Hydrogen Mission, and like are expected to help in transforming towards greener and healthier kitchens in India.
PM-Surya Ghar Yojana is a Scheme of special interest in the clean cooking sector. It creates an opportunity for the household to be self-reliant and energy sufficient for the eCooking needs. Standardization and Labeling programs implemented by BEE and BIS create an environment for the development of energy-efficient devices and will grow the trust of consumers in these devices and in the savings they will benefit from. This will boost opportunities for demand aggregation of clean cooking devices in the market. Schemes related to energy storage are vital to support the transition and increase the reliability of clean cooking appliances. These schemes encourage the adoption of energy storage systems in households, which, in turn, ensure the operationality of these clean cooking devices in times of need.
However, evaluations of such schemes have identified that the take up of these initiatives can be affected by information from different government ministries and organisations not reaching the stakeholders working at the ground level in ways that facilitate their adoption. Against this backdrop, it was felt essential to create a document that encompasses schemes/policies from different verticals of ministries or agencies that complement the clean cooking sector and have the potential to boost the transition toward mass adoption of clean cooking practices.At the MECF 2024 held recently in New Delhi, a Policy Compendium on the Clean Cooking Sector was launched by Modern Energy Cooking Services In-Country Partner – Finovista. The Compendium has a collection of concise and relevant information covering the schemes/policies announced by the Government of India to promote and encourage the transition towards clean cooking practices in India.Â
A faster transition to clean cooking requires a multi-stakeholder, and multipronged national strategy addressing not only the supply side, but also the needs, aspirations, and priorities of consumers. To achieve affordable and sustainable solutions it is important to involve all concerned stakeholders in developing program concept and its implementation, including the private sector, civil society, government ministries, and consumers.
While the policy instruments covered in the Compendium have the potential to help India achieve its target of eCooking and thereby its emissions intensity, similar policy measures and schemes at the state level could result in a quicker and wider impact, and facilitate a smooth transition to a sustainable low-carbon modern cooking future for the entire country.
In addition, the private sector in India is also looking for more support from the government to strengthen the manufacturing supply chain as well as the after-sales network of eCooking devices to ease its affordability and availability.
This Compendium is intended to be the one-stop document for the reference of the policy support related to the clean cooking sector and provides the required information needed to approach the concerned authority in this sector. Â
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If you identify additional policies that should beincluded in future
versions, please contact Finovista at Phone: +91 1166208011 | finovista@finovista.com|program@finovista.com | http://www.finovista.comÂ