Modern Energy Cooking Forum 2023

Modern Energy Cooking Forum 2023  

            We cordially invite you to the second edition of the Modern Energy Cooking Forum 2023, organised by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Government of India and Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) Programme, through its In-country partner - India, Finovista. The Forum established in 2022 aims to intensify the co-operation among the stakeholders from both public and private sector in the areas of renewable/ clean energy for clean cooking by offering them a platform to promote dialogue and exchange ideas to leverage investment in renewable energies particularly electricity access, to address the clean cooking challenge.

            The MECS is an eight-year programme funded by UK Aid of the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) and led by Loughborough University and the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP). The programme researches the socio-economic realities of the transition in India and other 15 member countries to accelerate the transition from biomass to genuinely clean cooking. In India, the programme was initiated at the end of 2019 as a Modern Energy Cooking opportunity mapping study, followed by meetings, roundtables, and a subsequent formal launch in February 2020.Globally, MECS has been established as a prominent programme in the clean cooking domain and is now the most prominent player in India. While the research done/being undertaken covers a range of modern fuels, the evidence collected so far indicate at the viability, cost effectiveness, and user friendliness of the electric cooking. 

            Despite sustained efforts, a large section of the population in India continues to use biomass for household cooking leading to health, economic, and environmental consequences. However, given the number of potential consumers of electric cooking in the country, the transition beside resulting in expected  benefits in health, economy, and climate domain, but, also shows potential to create a highly profitable market for the eCooking devices manufacturing industry capable enough to cater to the export market as well. Thus, the clean cooking initiative serves the dual aims of supporting India to emerge as a Global Hub for clean cooking devices manufacturing for domestic and international markets and also aligns with the Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India campaign of the Government of India. In addition, MECS programme also supports the GoElectric campaign launched by the Government of India in 2021 to promote use of electric energy for cooking and mobility in India.

            In the above background, MECS conceptualised and established a Modern Energy Cooking India with the aim to initiate discussions among stakeholders to accelerate the transition to modern energy-based clean cooking focussed on Electricity, Battery and Solar – initially focusing on India and envisaged to increasingly enable discussions for a leap into the global markets that are emerging. The first edition of the Forum was organised in September 2022 in New Delhi. The forum was attended by distinguished national and international speakers and delegates from the MECS Programme, EESL, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy,Government of India, International Solar Alliance, Climate Parliament, Ministry of Rural Development, O/o Principal Scientific Adviser to GoI, IOCL, GGGI, SIDBI and like. The discussion was around the pressing difficulties and issues in the area of clean cooking adoption with respect to affordability and availability of devices and reliable solutions, large-scale investments, participation of all stakeholders, and a possible robust policy support mechanism by global agencies and the local government. The Forum also offered a platform for the display of clean cooking product/devices organized on its side-lines and a range of innovative products were exhibited like different models of Electric Pressure Cookers (EPC), Induction Cooktops, Surya Nutan (Indoor Solar cooking system), Artificial Intelligence based cooking platform, Solar PV based cooking systems, etc.

The first edition of the Forum was a success in terms of getting all stakeholders involved in participation, engaging them in serious discussion and, last but not the least, in working out an effective follow up plan for realising the objective. To cite a couple of initiatives taken by the government organisations during the interim period, it may be mentioned that the Star-labelling programme formulated by BEE under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 now covers 34 appliances, including the induction hobs, and EESL plans to initiate market-based interventions for Solar based Induction cooking solutions by leveraging Carbon financing for a financially and environmentally sustainable market model.

The Way Forward

            Switching over to a cleaner fuel in any household is driven by the income of the household and the relative cost of the fuel. Due to the lower cost and easy availability of traditional fuels mainly biomass compared to modern fuels, the majority of households living below the poverty line continue to use them despite its negative effects on health and the environment. The Indian government’s landmark initiative under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana(PMUY) ensured access to clean energy for cooking for a large unprivileged population, but there are issues like accessibility, and affordability, leading to underutilization. Such issues like accessibility and affordability can be addressed through a holistic approach consisting of development of appropriate technology and deployment of alternate cost-effective and scalable clean-cooking devices/solutions with policy support from the government, innovative financing mechanisms, and creating an ecosystem for manufacturing electric cooking devices supported by its after sales service network. Since, India is now an electricity surplus nation with universal household electrification; adoption of eCooking will also help in better utilisation of power generation capacity available with utility companies who also have to play a major role in Demand Side regulation of electricity. Spreading awareness about clean cooking solutions among people also has to play a substantial role in this endeavour.  Thus, transitioning to clean cooking will involve integrating demand aggregation, bulk procurement and leveraging economy of scale supported by strengthening of grid infrastructure and maximizing share of green energy on the supply side.

            Accordingly, the Modern Energy Cooking Forum 2023 is being structured for panel and roundtable discussions on critical issues and challenges under multiple domains of Policy, Supply Chain, Finance and Consumers in transition to clean cooking in India.

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