Though most Indian households have an LPG connection, many don't use it for cooking, the National Family Health Survey-5 data show. For instance, in West Bengal, though 97% of the households had an LPG connection, only 40% used it for cooking. Such disparities existed in all the State surveyed. The difference between availability of LPG and usage was much higher in the rural parts. Low usage can be attributed to the cost of the subsidised cylinder, which has increased over the past two years.
Low usage
In Himachal Pradesh, LPG coverage stood at 116.6% as of January 2020, while only 51% of households used it for cooking, according to the health survey conducted between July and November 2019.
Wide disparity
The use of LPG for cooking was significantly lower in rural areas. In Gujarat, LPG usage was as high as 94% among the urban households while it was only 45.2% in rural households.
Rural urban LPG dot plot June 19
Poor subsidy
The price of subsidised cylinders has been steadily increasing over the last two years, thereby reducing the subsidy amount, despite a drastic fall in international LPG cost after FY14.
Line chart subsidised LPG June 19
Also read| LPG price doubled in 7 years: Dharmendra Pradhan
At high risk
According to NFHS-5, there was a higher prevalence of tuberculosis in households that were using solid fuels compared to those that were using clean cooking fuels in most States.
TB prevalence solid fuel use June 19
Source: PPAC, NFHS
Also read: Health first, fiscal prudence later
