Energy access for marginalized communities: Evidence from rural North India, 2015–2018

Abstract

Rural energy access in India has improved steadily over the last decade. This progress is attributed to national energy reforms that aim to not only expand access to grid electricity and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) but also to improve quality of access. Considering the historical caste-based energy access disparities unique to the Indian context, how equitable have recent improvements been? Using panel data representative of rural areas in six of India’s poorest states, we apply a linear regression model with caste and year interactions to quantify changes in energy access for historically marginalized Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) households relative to the all others between 2015–2018. We find that overall, inequities in an SC/ST household’s likelihood to obtain an LPG connection reduced (by 4.6%-points [95% CI: 0.7 to 7.7]). In contrast, overall inequities in grid connection likelihoods remained consistent. Looking beyond binary connection rates, we find that an SC/ST household’s supply improved less in terms of daily supply hours (by 1.42 h [CI: 1 to 1.83]) and monthly outage days (by 1 day [CI: 0.7 to 1.3]). Disaggregate analyses indicate that these broader trends are composed of distinct state-level trends modified by differences in baselines, marginalised population distributions, institutional capacity and accountability. Energy policy reform in India must consider caste-based inequities and take advantage of multi-dimensional supply measurement to encourage equitable and just progress towards sustainable energy access for all sections of the population.