Table of contents Ujjwala 2. 0 from access to sustained usage

ABSTRACT

By September 2019, some 80 million poor households will have been connected to LPG since 2015 through the national programme, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (Ujjwala). This is in addition to "normal" growth in LPG connections amounting to approximately 40 million households. By any account, this is a remarkable achievement, bringing total households with LPG connections from about 60% of the country early this decade to some 95% by the beginning of the next. Connection, however, does not mean full usage and many new Ujjwala households and others continue to use significant amounts of biomass fuel, with consequent impacts on the health of village populations from the smoke. In addition, it is now well established that smoke from household biomass use is the largest single source of outdoor air pollution in the country, although of course not the only one.3 Its continued use thus is a problem for all Indians. How to continue to fulfill the promise of Ujjwala in its second phase, here called Ujjwala 2.0, is an important policy discussion in the country.