The report by CSE relies on a National Family Health Survey conducted in 2019–21, which claimed that 41 percent of Indians continue to use biomass for cooking, although most have access to LPG
In a recent report, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) claims that 41 percent of the Indian population still uses wood, cow dung, or other biomass as cooking fuel, despite a rapid expansion in access to LPG across the country under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
According to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, 99.8 percent of Indians are now covered by LPG. The report by CSE is predicated on a National Family Health Survey conducted in 2019–21, which claimed that 41 percent of Indians continue to use biomass for cooking, surprisingly, despite the availability of LPG.
If these figures are credible, then cooking alone is responsible for around 340 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year in India, or about 13 percent of the country's total greenhouse gas emissions.
The report "India's Transition to E-cooking" says that the rapid expansion in access to liquified petroleum gas (LPG) in India has not guaranteed a sustained transition to clean cooking in households that benefited from the scheme.
Around a third of the world's population, or 2.4 billion people globally, still need access to clean cooking solutions, causing untold damage to the economy, public health, and the environment. Approximately three million people globally (including 0.6 million people in India) die prematurely every year because of indoor air pollution. The report said these deaths are caused mainly by wood-based cooking, again citing past research.