What influences rural poor in India to refill their LPG?

Abstract

Reducing air pollution, especially from household emissions, is considered a major policy target to reap the triple benefits of reduced household air pollution, reduction in forest dependence and reduced emission of carbon. Over a decade and a half, the Indian government has been persuading rural households to adopt either better stoves or cleaner fuels to increase social welfare. There has been a strong policy push to incentivize rural poor to adopt liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) through various schemes. This chapter examines the factors impacting on refilling of LPG cylinders across districts of major states in India. We find that rural income enhancing schemes have a positive influence on LPG refill. Female literacy has a positive impact but female workforce participation has a negative impact on refills. We also find that areas of very dense forests and scrub forests have a positive impact on refills while open forest has a negative impact. Increased development expenditure would provide win-win solutions for reducing poverty, increasing women's empowerment and higher adoption of cleaner fuels.