Energy Poverty in Rural and Urban India : Are the Energy Poor Also Income Poor?

Energy poverty is a frequently used term
among energy specialists, but unfortunately the concept is
rather loosely defined. Several existing approaches measure
energy poverty by defining an energy poverty line as the
minimum quantity of physical energy needed to perform such
basic tasks as cooking and lighting. This paper proposes an
alternative measure that is based on energy demand. The
energy poverty line is defined as the threshold point at
which energy consumption begins to rise with increases in
household income. This approach was applied to
cross-sectional data from a comprehensive 2005 household
survey representative of both urban and rural India. The
findings suggest that in rural areas some 57 percent of
households are energy poor, versus 22 percent that are
income poor. For urban areas the energy poverty rate is 28
percent compared with 20 percent that are income poor.
Policies to reduce energy poverty would include support for
rural electrification, the promotion of more modern cooking
fuels, and encouraging greater adoption of improved biomass
stoves. A combination of these programs would play a
significant role in reducing energy poverty in rural India.