Access to clean energy services for the urban and peri-urban poor: a case-study of Delhi, India

Abstract

Indian cities are rapidly growing. Their growth has been accompanied by the growth of urban slums and subsequent challenges to access basic urban services like water, sanitation, clean energy, and transport for the urban poor. Despite its importance for basic survival, and from an economic and health (both personal and environmental) perspective, clean energy supply is not recognised as a basic urban service, as a result of which the poverty alleviation and basic infrastructure provision programmes in India have not addressed it completely. The situation is also aggravated by the existence of distorted energy markets in India, which have resulted in the true benefits of energy subsidies not reaching the poor and therefore hindering their access to cleaner fuels. Data on the status of physical access of households in India to different energy sources, whether households have access to different energy markets, whether energy is affordable to them, quality of energy supply, etc. is meagre. On the basis of a stakeholder interaction approach, following a set of logically sequenced questions to assess availability, accessibility, affordability, reliability and continuity of usage of clean fuels, this study assesses the current levels of access to clean forms of energy for cooking, lighting and productive/economic purposes, for the urban and peri-urban poor in Delhi, the capital of India, and identifies challenges and policy measures to improve clean energy access.