Induction vs infrared cooktops, and how India’s electric cooking push could affect power grid
India's clean cooking transition is increasingly centred on electric alternatives to LPG — principally induction cooktops and infrared (radiant) cooktops — as electricity costs fall and LPG import dependence grows.
The debate between induction and infrared technology has significant policy implications: both technologies address clean cooking goals, but differ substantially in energy efficiency, appliance compatibility, upfront cost, and grid demand profile.
A large-scale switch to electric cooking, while environmentally and economically desirable, could intensify peak demand on India's power grid — particularly during the evening cooking hours when the grid already faces stress.
Peak electricity demand in India has grown from 148 GW in 2014 to a record 242.5 GW in December 2025, making grid management during any demand surge critical.
India imports roughly 60% of its LPG and 50% of its natural gas, making the transition to domestic electric cooking a strategic energy security priority — with the annual LPG/gas import bill reaching $26.4 billion in FY2024–25.
Induction vs Infrared Cooktops — Technology Comparison
Induction cooktops use electromagnetic induction to heat the cookware directly: an electric current passes through a coil beneath the glass surface, generating a magnetic field that induces eddy currents in ferromagnetic pots and pans, producing heat within the vessel itself. This makes induction highly energy-efficient (~85%) but restricts compatibility to iron- or steel-based cookware.
Infrared (radiant) cooktops use a resistive heating element beneath a glass surface; the element glows red-hot and transfers heat primarily through infrared radiation and conduction through the glass. They work with any flat-bottomed cookware (~60–70% efficiency) but are less efficient than induction.
Key Details
- Induction efficiency: ~85%; infrared efficiency: ~60–70%; LPG burner efficiency: ~40%
- Induction requires ferromagnetic cookware (cast iron, stainless steel with magnetic base); does not work with aluminium, copper, or glass
- Induction requires a 25-ampere electrical connection — far beyond the 5-amp or 10-amp connections in most rural Indian homes (designed only for lighting and fans)
- Infrared cooktops work with all flat-bottomed cookware and 5–10 amp connections — making them more immediately deployable in rural areas
- Annual cooking cost comparison (FY2024–25): Electric cooking ₹5,844/year vs LPG ₹9,300+/year (without subsidy); electric cooking is 37% cheaper than unsubsidised LPG
- The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) highlights the need for multi-pot induction technologies to make electric cooking viable for Indian households (simultaneous chapati, dal, tempering)
Induction's higher efficiency makes it the preferred technology for reducing energy consumption per household, but its infrastructure requirements (higher ampere connection) create a significant adoption barrier for rural and lower-income households — the very population that the clean cooking push targets.
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) — India's Clean Cooking Programme
The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) — launched in May 2016 by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas — is India's flagship clean cooking scheme. It provides deposit-free LPG connections to women from households below the poverty line (BPL), with the goal of replacing biomass-based cooking (firewood, dung cakes, crop residue) with clean LPG cooking.
Key Details
- Launch date: May 1, 2016; Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
- Target beneficiaries: Initially BPL women; expanded to cover SC/ST, forest dwellers, PMAY-Gramin beneficiaries, etc.
- Total LPG connections provided (cumulative): Over 10.33 crore (103.3 million) as of 2025
- Total domestic LPG connections in India: Grew from ~16.6 crore (2016) to over 33 crore (2025)
- Key challenge: "First refill" problem — many PMUY beneficiaries receive a free connection but cannot afford subsequent LPG cylinder refills at market prices, reverting to biomass
- PMUY 2.0 (launched 2021): Extended to migrants without proof of domicile; provides one free refill upon connection
The limitations of PMUY — particularly the refill affordability barrier — are driving policy interest in electric cooking alternatives that have a lower long-term operating cost once the upfront infrastructure investment is made.
India's Electric Cooking Transition — Grid and Policy Challenges
India's transition to electric cooking intersects with two major policy challenges: demand-side grid management and electricity distribution infrastructure. Electric cooking, especially induction, adds a concentrated, time-coincident load during evening cooking hours (6–9 PM) — precisely when the residential electricity grid already faces its peak demand.
Key Details
- India's peak electricity demand: 148 GW (2014) → 242.5 GW (December 2025) — a 64% growth in 11 years
- Evening peak problem: Large-scale induction adoption would flatten the demand curve further, potentially adding 20–30 GW of coincident load during peak hours [Unverified — indicative range from modelling studies]
- Automated Demand Response (ADR) via the OpenADR protocol: Smart cooktops and appliances can auto-adjust consumption during peak hours through two-way utility-device communication — a grid-management solution
- Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) are the nodal agencies for electric cooking policy development
- EESL (Energy Efficiency Services Ltd.) is involved in procurement and distribution of efficient appliances under government programmes
- India's electricity access: Near-universal household electrification achieved under Saubhagya scheme (2017); challenge now is moving from "connected" to "consuming" for cooking
Electric cooking is economically and environmentally superior to LPG or biomass — but without simultaneous investment in distribution infrastructure upgrades (higher-ampere connections for rural households) and demand response mechanisms, a rapid switch could destabilise the grid.
India's LPG Import Dependence — Strategic Context
India imports approximately 60% of its LPG consumption and about 50% of its natural gas — making the cooking fuel basket highly exposed to global commodity price volatility and geopolitical disruption. The Gulf region is the dominant source for both LPG and LNG imports.
Key Details
- LPG import dependence: ~60% of consumption
- Natural gas import dependence: ~50% of consumption
- Combined LPG/natural gas import bill: $26.4 billion in FY2024–25
- India is the world's second-largest LPG consumer (after the US)
- LPG subsidy (DBTL — Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG): Government provides ₹200/cylinder subsidy directly to consumer bank accounts (Pahal scheme); Ujjwala beneficiaries receive additional support
- Transition to electric cooking would reduce oil import bill and improve current account balance — a key economic co-benefit
A successful electric cooking transition reduces India's strategic vulnerability to Gulf supply disruptions — the same supply chain risks that the fertiliser sector (which depends on Gulf ammonia and LNG) faces simultaneously.
- Induction cooktop efficiency: ~85%; infrared: ~60–70%; LPG: ~40%
- Induction connection requirement: 25-ampere (most rural homes: 5–10 amp)
- Annual electric cooking cost (FY2024–25): ~₹5,844/year for a family of four
- Annual LPG cooking cost (without subsidy): ~₹9,300+/year; with ₹200 subsidy: lower
- India's peak electricity demand: 148 GW (2014) → 242.5 GW (December 2025)
- PMUY launch: May 2016; connections provided: 10.33 crore+
- LPG connections in India (total): Grew from 16.6 crore (2016) to 33+ crore (2025)
- LPG import dependence: ~60%; natural gas: ~50%
- LPG/gas import bill: $26.4 billion (FY2024–25)
- EESL: Energy Efficiency Services Ltd — nodal for efficient appliance distribution
- OpenADR protocol: Enables two-way utility-appliance communication for demand response