The analysis drew on unit-level data from the fourth and fifth rounds of the National Family Health Survey, conducted in 2015-16 and 2019-21 respectively, covering a total of 14,542 tribal households across Odisha. This period is analytically valuable because it straddles the launch of the Ujjwala scheme, allowing researchers to compare clean fuel adoption before and after the policy intervention. The headline number is stark: clean cooking fuel use among tribal households rose from just 5.3 percent in the fourth round to 12.6 percent in the fifth. That is a substantial relative improvement, yet it means that nearly nine out of ten tribal households in the state still relied on traditional biomass such as firewood, dung and crop residues for their daily cooking, with all the health and environmental burdens that entails.

To understand why some households made the switch and others did not, the researchers estimated binary probit and logit models, standard econometric techniques for modelling a binary outcome such as whether or not a household uses a clean fuel. Because these models produce coefficients that are not directly interpretable as probabilities, the team also calculated marginal effects, the change in the probability of adoption associated with each factor. The models were estimated separately for the two survey rounds and for rural and urban subsamples, and the results were statistically robust, with Wald chi-square tests significant at the one percent level and pseudo R-squared values indicating strong explanatory power.

The determinants that emerged tell a consistent story. Urban residence substantially increased the likelihood of clean fuel use: in the fifth round, the marginal effect of urban living was 8.2 percentage points, meaning urban tribal households were considerably more likely to cook with LPG than their rural counterparts, reflecting better supply chains, distribution networks and market access. Female-headed households were also more likely to adopt clean fuels, an effect that grew stronger between the two survey rounds, consistent with the idea that women, who bear the primary burden of cooking and fuel collection, are powerful agents of transition when they control household decisions. Education mattered in a graded fashion: primary education raised adoption modestly, secondary education more strongly, and higher education most strongly of all, with a marginal effect of 6.2 percentage points in the recent round.

Wealth was the single most powerful predictor. Households classified as rich had a marginal effect of 47.6 percentage points relative to poor households in the fifth round, while middle-wealth households showed an effect of 16.4 points. This gradient underscores a central tension in clean cooking policy: a free LPG connection does not by itself overcome the recurring costs of refills, which many poor households find prohibitive. The finding that larger family size reduced the probability of adoption, with a marginal effect of minus 2.4 percentage points per additional member, likely reflects the economics of cooking volume, since bigger families need more fuel and biomass remains effectively free even when its true cost, measured in smoke and labour, is enormous.

Two other negative determinants deserve attention because they speak to the specific livelihoods of tribal communities. Ownership of agricultural land reduced adoption probability by 1.7 percentage points, and ownership of livestock or farm animals reduced it by 2.2 points. These assets tie households to agrarian routines in which biomass is readily available and often collected as a by-product of farm work, lowering the perceived need to purchase fuel. Even more striking was the effect of cooking location: households that cooked outdoors were 11 percentage points less likely to use clean fuel than those with a separate kitchen room. Outdoor cooking, common in many tribal settlements, appears to reduce the perceived health benefits of switching, since smoke disperses in open air, and it also reflects housing conditions that limit the practical use of LPG stoves.

To isolate the effect of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana itself, the researchers employed a Propensity Score Matching combined with a Difference-in-Differences design, a quasi-experimental approach that compares below-poverty-line households eligible for the scheme with comparable non-eligible households before and after the intervention. The matching step constructs a counterfactual group of households statistically similar in observable characteristics, while the difference-in-differences step nets out time trends that would have occurred regardless of the policy. The results indicated a significantly higher increase in LPG adoption among below-poverty-line households during the PMUY period, providing credible evidence that the scheme did accelerate the transition among its intended beneficiaries rather than merely subsidising households that would have switched anyway.

The study also examined LPG adoption before and after the COVID-19 lockdown using the fifth-round data, with a treatment variable identifying PMUY households and an interaction term capturing the differential post-lockdown change. The interaction was positive and significant, with a marginal effect of 12.9 percentage points in the pre-COVID specification and 14.4 points in the post-COVID specification, again suggesting that the scheme’s beneficiaries gained ground relative to others. Yet the authors caution that connection-based targets are not the same as sustained use. A household that receives a free cylinder and regulator may revert to biomass once the first refills must be purchased at market prices, a pattern of partial or stacked fuel use that has been documented across the Global South and that limits the health dividends of LPG programmes.

The health stakes of this transition are considerable. Burning solid biomass indoors releases fine particulate matter, carbon monoxide and other pollutants at concentrations far exceeding safe guidelines, and the burden falls disproportionately on the women and children who spend the most time near the cookstove. Respiratory infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular strain and low birth weight are among the documented consequences of household air pollution. For tribal communities, which already face elevated poverty and reduced access to healthcare, the persistence of biomass cooking represents a compounding disadvantage, which is precisely why the slow pace of transition documented in Odisha matters beyond the state’s borders.

The authors conclude that the path forward requires integrated, context-sensitive policy interventions that extend beyond connection-based targets. Affordability of refills, reliability of supply in remote and forested districts, behavioural change campaigns that address cooking habits and cultural preferences, and women’s empowerment within tribal communities all emerge as necessary ingredients of a genuine transition. The Odisha evidence suggests that the Ujjwala scheme opened a door that had long been closed to the poorest tribal households, but that walking through it, cylinder after cylinder, year after year, depends on incomes, infrastructure and social dynamics that a single subsidy cannot supply. As India pursues its broader clean energy ambitions, the kitchen, the study reminds us, remains one of the hardest places to change.

Subject of Research: Determinants of clean cooking fuel adoption among tribal households in Odisha under India's Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

Article Title: Clean cooking fuel transitions among tribal households in Odisha under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

Article References: Naik, D., Bera, R., Mohapatra, M., Behera, R. R., & Behera, R. R. (2026). Clean cooking fuel transitions among tribal households in Odisha under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. Discover Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-026-04857-4

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s43621-026-04857-4

Keywords: clean cooking fuel, LPG, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, tribal households, Odisha, energy transition, NFHS, household air pollution, energy access, probit model, propensity score matching, women's empowerment

The scale of the problem is staggering. According to the International Energy Agency, more than 600 million Indians still relied on solid biomass for cooking as of the late 2010s. The World Health Organization attributes over 500,000 premature deaths in India each year to indoor air pollution generated by conventional cooking practices, with the burden falling disproportionately on women and children, who spend the most time near the cooking fire. Burning biomass releases high concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide, pollutants empirically linked to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, acute lower respiratory infections, cataracts, cardiovascular disorders, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. In households that depend on traditional fuels, medical expenses run 25 to 30 percent higher than among liquefied petroleum gas users, according to research cited in the review, creating a punishing feedback loop in which poverty produces illness and illness deepens poverty.

India’s flagship response, the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, launched in 2016, has been genuinely transformative in one narrow sense: it provided free LPG connections to more than 80 million low-income households nationwide. But the review synthesizes evidence showing that connection coverage and sustained usage are two very different things. One long-term evaluation tracking users over four years found that while connection coverage exceeded 90 percent, consistent usage remained below 60 percent. Fewer than 30 percent of beneficiary families refill their cylinders more than three times a year. The reason is brutally simple arithmetic: a refill costs between 950 and 1,100 rupees, a sum that is prohibitive for Below Poverty Line households and marginal farmers whose incomes are seasonal and irregular. When cash runs short, families revert to biomass that is effectively free for the gathering.

This pattern has forced researchers to rethink a foundational model of energy behavior. The classic energy ladder theory holds that households ascend linearly from biomass to modern fuels as income and education rise. But in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, the data tell a different story, one better captured by the energy stacking model. Households routinely use multiple fuels simultaneously, reserving LPG for special occasions or months when cash is plentiful and returning to firewood during lean agricultural seasons. The review’s authors propose an Integrated Energy Behavior Model in which economic capacity, infrastructure access, and behavioral preference jointly shape fuel decisions. Fuel stacking, they suggest, is not resistance to modernity but a rational adaptation to uncertain incomes, and policy frameworks that assume linear switching systematically misread rural economic reality.

Infrastructure compounds the problem. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas data indicate that nearly 40 percent of villages in the region lack a functional LPG distribution center, and some rural beneficiaries must travel more than 10 kilometers to collect a cylinder. Weak subsidy targeting, delayed reimbursements, and sparse distributor density mean that rural households face longer travel distances and reduced refill frequency compared with their urban counterparts. The urban-rural divide is stark: around 70 percent of urban households in the region report using LPG or electricity as their primary cooking fuel, compared with only 30 percent of rural households. Comparative evidence suggests this is not inevitable, as states like Odisha and West Bengal achieve higher refill consistency through denser supply networks and more active community participation.

Perhaps the most surprising findings concern psychology and culture rather than money. Ethnographic fieldwork in rural Uttar Pradesh revealed that fear of gas leaks, memories of past accidents, and misinformation lead many households to keep firewood as their daily fuel while treating LPG as a ceremonial luxury. A 2018 NITI Aayog survey found that 28 percent of women worried about LPG safety, while 35 percent believed food cooked over a wood fire simply tastes better. Older family members sometimes discourage LPG use out of unfamiliarity or distrust of modern equipment. The review emphasizes that top-down safety messaging often fails against these deeply held convictions, and that trust-building interventions such as participatory demonstrations, women-led safety workshops, and peer mentoring measurably improve user confidence and refill regularity.

Education, particularly female literacy, emerges as one of the most powerful levers for change. Analysis of the India Human Development Survey shows that families with literate women are 2.5 times more likely to use clean fuels than households with no female education. Multilevel regression modeling confirms that literate women better perceive health risks, engage more effectively with subsidy schemes, and are more likely to participate in non-farm employment, which improves affordability. Time-use research adds another dimension: switching from biomass to LPG saves an average of 90 minutes of cooking time daily, time that flows into income-generating activities and children’s education, generating measurable economic uplift over just two years. Clean cooking, in other words, is not merely an energy intervention but a livelihood and gender-equity intervention.

The review also frames the issue as a climate opportunity with quantifiable co-benefits. Households dependent on firewood and dung cakes contribute significantly to carbon dioxide and PM2.5 emissions compared with LPG or electricity users, and longitudinal assessments show substantial reductions in indoor pollutants following exclusive LPG adoption. At the macro level, widespread biomass replacement could yield significant carbon emission reductions, positioning clean cooking as a strategic climate action pathway. The authors suggest that integrating health verification and carbon finance mechanisms into policy design could amplify both local and global sustainability outcomes, turning kitchen transitions into fundable climate projects.

What the authors ultimately call for is a second generation of clean cooking policy, one that moves beyond connection-centric metrics to usage-based indicators. Their recommendations include targeted refill subsidies responsive to agricultural income cycles, community-level bulk refill centers, last-mile delivery reforms, behavioral change communication embedded in the policy framework, and linkages between clean cooking initiatives and rural credit, health insurance, and women’s education programs. They acknowledge a key limitation: district-level data for Eastern Uttar Pradesh remain scarce, forcing reliance on comparable regional studies, and they call for longitudinal household surveys to evaluate long-term behavioral and economic impacts. The core message, however, is unambiguous. Free cylinders opened a door, but affordability, trust, infrastructure, and women’s agency determine whether families actually walk through it. Until policy addresses all four simultaneously, the smoke will keep rising over the kitchens of Eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Subject of Research: Household cooking fuel choices and their health and economic implications in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India

Article Title: Household cooking fuel choices and their health-economic implications in Eastern Uttar Pradesh: a comprehensive review

Article References: Ram, M., Tiwari, S., & Kumar, S. (2026). Household cooking fuel choices and their health-economic implications in Eastern Uttar Pradesh: a comprehensive review. Discover Sustainability, 7(1), Article 1662. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-025-02334-y

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s43621-025-02334-y

Keywords: clean cooking, LPG adoption, household air pollution, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, biomass fuels, energy stacking, fuel stacking, women's health, energy poverty, PM2.5 exposure, energy policy