Climate Adaptation
Deadly Smoke Set to Return as India Cuts Outlays On Cooking Fuel Program
- High price, lack of subsidy keep poor households away from LPG
- Firewood, dung are commonly used by women as cooking fuel
This article is for subscribers only.
Five years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government offered Indian women a chance to dramatically improve their lives with cooking fuel subsidies in what became one of his administration’s most celebrated campaigns.
Now, hamstrung by a widening fiscal deficit, New Delhi has been slowly reducing the size of those handouts -- a shift that risks upsetting women voters and potentially exposing millions to heavier levels of pollution.