Electric cooking in India 37% cheaper than LPG, 14% cheaper than PNG: Policy action can scale adoption

Electricity-based cooking (e-cooking) is emerging as the ultimate clean cooking solution for India, finds a new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). After the government’s push to promote clean cooking via liquified petroleum gas (LPG) and piped natural gas (PNG), the time is ripe to take this next step. 

The report highlights that LPG and PNG, while cleaner than traditional solid fuels, remain carbon-intensive and contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Moreover, despite near-universal LPG coverage and the rapid expansion of PNG connections, nearly 40% of households still rely on solid fuels for cooking. Concerns over affordability have resulted in a mismatch in the pace of LPG and PNG connections and actual consumption.

“Both PNG and non-subsidised LPG are now expensive. The annual cost of cooking fuel for a family of four using PNG has risen by 47% to INR6,657 (US$76) in FY2024-25, while the cost for non-subsidised LPG has increased by 23% to INR6,424 (US$73) in the same period,” says the report’s author Purva Jain, Energy Specialist, Gas & International Advocacy—South Asia, IEEFA.

Taken together these factors indicate an urgent need to switch to e-cooking for at least urban areas as a starting point. 

Shifting to e-cooking, particularly in urban areas, offers multiple benefits, like reducing reliance on solid fuels, lowering the burden of fiscal subsidies, and strengthening energy security, shows the report. 

IEEFA looks at the current scenario of LPG and PNG uptake in the country, and the barriers that hinder it. Understanding these barriers is crucial, as they highlight the challenges in scaling up clean cooking access and show why there’s a need for alternative solutions, like e-cooking. 

“Shifting urban areas to e-cooking could be one solution to the problem of limited use of clean cooking fuels in rural areas. By reducing demand for LPG and PNG in urban areas, more of these limited resources could be redirected to rural areas,” says Jain. 

E-cooking offers a superior alternative to fuel-based cooking due to its lower import dependency, higher efficiency, and reduced indoor air pollution, creating safer household environments. Affordability is a key factor driving the adoption of any new cooking fuel in India, and electricity-based cooking offers significant cost savings compared to both traditional and modern fuels such as LPG and PNG.

“Electricity-based cooking means cost savings. Based on analysis for FY2024-25, using PNG for cooking versus electricity-based devices can be 14% more expensive for households, while non-subsidised LPG can be 37% more expensive. Subsidising LPG for all consumers has made it only marginally more affordable than e-cooking. Only the heavily subsidised LPG pricing for Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) beneficiaries, more prevalent in rural areas, comes out to be cheaper than e-cooking,” says Jain. 

However, while transitioning to e-cooking appears to be the logical choice, adoption has been slow, and the report highlights the key challenges hindering this shift and suggests measures to accelerate its uptake. Key issues include high capital costs, limited cooktop options, fears over electricity reliability, low awareness, and insufficient regulatory support.

The author suggests several strategies to help overcome these, like government support to reduce capital costs, expanding the availability of versatile cooktops, ensuring reliable electricity access, running awareness programmes to build consumer confidence, and developing a dedicated roadmap to encourage phased adoption of e-cooking.

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Source – IIEFA