Govt expects people to move towards e-cooking to capitalise on power supply

The government expects people to move towards electric cooking (e-cooking) as the nation now has a 24x7 electricity supply in households, according to an official.

"We want to move towards e-cooking since we have 24/7 electricity in our households," Additional Secretary Power Ajay Tewari said while addressing a conference organised here.

He pointed out that India has, in just 18 months, given Saubhagya (scheme) connections to 26 million households who did not have electricity access.

Never before in the history of the world has so many households been given electricity connection in such a short time, he noted.

"We are supplying energy for 23.5 hours in all urban areas and 23 hours, and more in rural areas. It is a big achievement that the age of power cuts is behind us," a power ministry statement quoted Tewari as saying.

He also informed that 700 million people in the world, however, still do not have access to electricity, and universal energy access is one of the priorities of G20.

Highlighting the importance of affordability, he said that we must promote e-cooking from renewable energy sources like solar and thermal power.

"We are coming up with aggregation models whereby prices can be brought down. If we have standard and affordable models, we should be able to cover all urban areas within 2-3 years. By 2030, we will like to cover as many households as possible under e-cooking," he stated.

The focus on electric cooking is based on the recognition that e-cooking is a key pathway to Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment), an India-led global mass movement to nudge individual and community action to protect and preserve the environment.

Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow in 2021, Mission LiFE seeks to transform persons into pro-planet people, who would adopt sustainable lifestyles.