- Date
- 9th July 2026
- Categories
- eCooking
By Neh Satsangi and Kumar Satyam (Finovista).
MECS has supported research, pilots, and knowledge development to accelerate the transition towards clean and modern electric cooking solutions in India.
This blog post brings together the key studies and other publications, highlighting their objectives, thematic focus, and contribution towards enabling a sustainable and inclusive clean cooking transition.
| Resource type | Resource overview |
|---|---|
| Research report | The “Multifuel Study: India” highlights the performance of electric cooking appliances in comparison with LPG across commonly prepared Indian dishes. The study evaluates technologies such as induction cooktops, electric pressure cookers, infrared cooktops, and electric deep fryers on parameters including cooking time, energy consumption, operating cost, usability, and food quality. Its findings provide evidence on how electric cooking can complement existing cooking practices and support India’s transition towards cleaner, energy-efficient, and affordable cooking solutions. |
| Pilot report | The report “Enabling Electric Cooking Ecosystem in Rural India” showcases how rural India can transition from biomass-based cooking to electric cooking through stronger supply chains, financing, awareness, and local retail ecosystems. The study highlights that successful adoption of eCooking requires both demand-side interventions—such as consumer awareness and affordability support—and supply-side measures including retailer engagement, delivery systems, and after-sales service networks. Using field-based action research and pilot implementation models, the report proposes a scalable ecosystem approach to make electric cooking accessible, reliable, and sustainable in rural and peri-urban India. |
| State level analysis | The “Kerala: Readiness Assessment Study for eCooking” examines Kerala’s preparedness for transitioning toward electric cooking through policy, infrastructure, market, and consumer readiness assessments. The study highlights Kerala’s strong potential due to high electrification rates, renewable energy initiatives, and active institutional support from agencies such as the Energy Management Centre (EMC) Kerala. It identifies key opportunities in institutional and commercial kitchens while also noting challenges related to consumer behaviour, appliance affordability, grid readiness, and awareness. The report ultimately recommends targeted policy support, stakeholder coordination, financing mechanisms, and ecosystem development to accelerate a scalable and sustainable eCooking transition in the state. |
| Pilot report | The Shell Foundation report accounted the adoption of electric cooking among street food vendors and micro-enterprises in India, highlighting its potential to improve livelihoods while reducing dependence on LPG and traditional fuels. Based on a pilot involving 760 vendors across Delhi and Bihar, the study found that eCooking improved operational efficiency, reduced fuel costs, enhanced working conditions, and increased incomes for many vendors. The report also emphasizes that successful scale-up requires suitable appliance design, supportive electricity infrastructure, flexible utility connections, and financing mechanisms tailored to informal enterprises. Overall, the study positions eCooking as a commercially viable and climate-friendly pathway for India’s informal food economy. |
| Research report | The MECS report “In-depth Exploration of Cooking Entirely with Electricity” explores whether households can fully transition from traditional cooking fuels to electric cooking using appliances such as induction stoves and electric pressure cookers. Conducted across several countries, including India, the study analysed cooking practices, energy use, costs, user experiences, and barriers through detailed cooking diary methodologies. The findings showed that many households successfully prepared diverse traditional meals entirely with electricity while benefiting from time savings, convenience, and improved cooking experiences. However, challenges such as appliance affordability, electricity reliability, consumer awareness, and infrastructure limitations remain key barriers to large-scale adoption of eCooking. |
| Research report | The National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) project entitled “An Evidence-based Approach to Assess the Transition in Clean Cooking” assesses the readiness of low- and middle-income households in Bengaluru to transition from traditional cooking fuels to modern electric cooking solutions. The study combines household surveys, infrastructure assessments, and socio-economic analysis to understand barriers, energy demand implications, affordability, and consumer behaviour related to eCooking adoption. The project also develops a scalable analytical framework to support evidence-based policymaking and future clean cooking transitions across different regions of India. |
| National level analysis | This MECS report provides a comprehensive review of India’s transition towards electric cooking, examining technological progress, policy developments, consumer behaviour, affordability, supply chains, and institutional adoption. The study highlights that eCooking is emerging as a viable, cost-effective, and sustainable clean cooking solution for India, while also identifying persistent barriers such as infrastructure gaps, financing constraints, and behavioural preferences. It further outlines strategic recommendations and a roadmap to accelerate large-scale adoption of electric cooking across domestic, commercial, and institutional sectors. |
| Compendium | The Clean Cooking Policy Compendium developed by under the MECS programme provides a comprehensive overview of India’s policy landscape related to clean cooking transitions. The compendium consolidates national schemes, regulatory frameworks, incentives, and institutional initiatives that support the adoption of cleaner cooking technologies, including electric cooking. It serves as a practical reference for policymakers, researchers, industry stakeholders, and practitioners working to strengthen the clean cooking ecosystem and accelerate sustainable energy transitions in India. |
| National level analysis | MECS in India and Chintan Research Foundation published an issue brief “Decarbonising India’s Cooking Sector: Opportunities and Challenges” analyses the role of clean cooking transitions in supporting India’s climate, public health, and energy security goals. The study highlights that while LPG expansion has improved clean cooking access, long-term decarbonisation will require a diversified pathway including electric cooking, biogas, renewable energy integration, and targeted tariff reforms. It also emphasizes the importance of affordability, infrastructure readiness, behavioural change, and policy coordination to enable a sustainable and equitable transition across households and commercial cooking sectors. |
| Events recordings | The Talk Series is a knowledge-sharing platform that brings together experts, policymakers, researchers, industry leaders, and practitioners to discuss emerging trends, innovations, and policy developments in clean cooking and modern energy access. These sessions facilitate dialogue, dissemination of research findings, and cross-sector collaboration to strengthen the clean cooking ecosystem. |
| Initiative report | The Women in Modern Energy Cooking (WMEC) initiative and Energy Dozen are engagement and visibility platforms that highlight women leaders, entrepreneurs, researchers, and innovators working in the clean cooking and energy transition space. Through interviews, webinars, social media campaigns, and networking activities, these initiatives promote inclusion, leadership, and knowledge exchange within the sector. |
| Events report | The Modern Energy Cooking Forum (MECF) serves as a collaborative platform for stakeholders across government, academia, industry, development organisations, and civil society to discuss challenges and opportunities related to modern energy cooking. The forum supports policy dialogue, evidence dissemination, partnership building, and strategic discussions aimed at accelerating the adoption of clean and sustainable cooking solutions. |
| National level analysis | The report on the “Supply Chain of Induction Cookstoves in India” examines the key challenges affecting the large-scale adoption of induction cooking in India. It analyses manufacturing, component sourcing, distribution systems, financing, and rural market access within the induction cookstove sector. The study highlights that despite growing demand and manufacturing capacity, the sector remains highly dependent on imported components such as PCBs and ceramic glass, making supply chain dependency a major barrier to scale up. It further identifies gaps in after-sales support, financing access, and rural distribution, while recommending stronger local manufacturing and distribution ecosystems to support India’s clean cooking transition. |
| State level analysis | The State Factsheets on Clean Cooking and eCooking Ecosystem in India analyse the readiness of ten Indian states for the transition towards modern and electric cooking solutions by assessing power infrastructure, renewable energy integration, clean fuel adoption, state policies, institutional opportunities, and electricity tariff structures. The factsheets combine energy system analysis with clean cooking indicators to identify state-specific opportunities and challenges for scaling eCooking across residential, commercial, and institutional sectors. |
| Training resource | The “Training of Trainers (ToT) Programme on Clean Cookstove Sales and Maintenance Executive” focused on strengthening skill development and technical capacity within the clean cooking sector through training aligned with the SCGJ curriculum under the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF). Supported by the MECS Programme, the initiative brought together participants from multiple organisations working across the clean cooking ecosystem and contributed towards developing a trained workforce for clean cookstove sales and maintenance in India. |
| Training resource | The Clean Cooking Awareness for Young Minds initiative uses animated storytelling in collaboration with Dr Binocs (Peekaboo Kidz) to introduce children to concepts around clean cooking, health, and sustainability. Through engaging multilingual videos, the project focuses on creating early awareness and encouraging conversations around clean cooking within households, highlighting the role of young minds in shaping long-term behavioural change. |
| eCooking appliances buyers guide | The Global LEAP Awards 2025 Buyer’s Guide for Induction Cooktops presents findings from laboratory and real-world usability testing of induction cooktops across India and Kenya to evaluate their suitability for energy-constrained settings. The study analyses product performance, energy efficiency, cooking time, usability, safety, affordability, and user experience across multiple induction cooktop models tested in households. It highlights that induction cooktops can provide faster, cleaner, and energy-efficient cooking while reducing dependence on polluting fuels, but adoption continues to depend on appliance quality, affordability, cookware compatibility, and user confidence in the technology. |
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Image credit: Finovista.
AI disclaimer: AI was used to check and improve the language, tone, and readability of the text.