Why cancelling the LPG subsidy is a poor option
Air pollution kills more than 16 lakh people in India every year — more than smoking, malnutrition or even a lack of water and sanitation. And while the toxic soup of outdoor air pollution over Delhi and many other cities rightly gets a lot of attention, indoor air pollution from household cooking and heating with biomass fuels kills almost as many, or about eight lakh people, every year. A majority of rural households continue to use biomass (such as wood and cow dung) as their primary cooking fuel.
Various measures have promoted cooking with LPG, a significantly cleaner fossil fuel. An LPG subsidy is supposed to make sure that the poor can afford clean cooking fuel.