Household Air Pollution (HAP) combined with poor air quality is associated with several health hazards, posing a greater risk for women and children in low-income households across India. Burning biomass for cooking and heating is a major contributor to HAP and switching to cleaner fuels like LPG, can be effective for mitigating HAP. The government’s efforts to promote clean cooking fuels such as LPG through schemes like Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has increased the coverage, yet several barriers exist in access, adoption, and sustained use of LPG.

This exploratory study was undertaken to help understand the use and perceptions around biomass and LPG and capture the perceptions of household air pollution among low-income households. Ten focus groups and nine interviews were conducted in five urban slums of Delhi (both notified and non-notified bastis) and five in villages in rural Jharkhand. The study was carried out during the latter half of May and first half of June, 2022. The findings highlight that for the users, ease of access is more important than ease of use when deciding which fuel to use. Users’ perceptions regarding LPG, such as LPG being unsafe, food cooked on LPG being unhealthy and less tasty, combined with supply-side bottlenecks such as challenges in applying for and getting an LPG cylinder, lump-sum cash outflow during ordering refills for an LPG cylinder are some of the factors that act as a hindrance in its sustained use by women in low-income households.

This study was carried out for a specific intervention under the Cleaner Air and Better Health project, which is focused on transition to clean cooking fuels to reduce the exposure to household air pollution. The findings of this study will be used to recommend context level solutions and design pilot interventions with respective State governments that will help improve access to cleaner fuel for low-income households in India.

As part of the study, consultations were held with stakeholders in both Delhi and Jharkhand. In Jharkhand, dialogues and consultations were organized with members of the women Self Help Groups linked to the Jharkhand State Livelihoods Promotion Society (JSLPS), ward members, as well as members of civil society and NGOs working in the state, and specifically in the study district – Lohardaga. Similar process was followed in Delhi, where stakeholders in the community, such as anganwadi workers, ASHA workers, teachers, LPG distributors, community heads and opinion leaders
were consulted during the study.