The West Asia conflict has made visible a multi-billion-dollar energy market in India. As people queue up for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders in panic, and eateries shut down due to shortages, another source of cooking fuel has hogged headlines—fuelwood. Fuelwood godowns across the country are reporting a surge in demand. Even in megacities, people are reported to be thronging to the outskirts to scavenge for twigs or to inquire about fuelwood sellers.
In Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Kerala, there are reports of a steep rise in fuelwood use among those who long ago switched to LPG. Just outside Raipur, sights of people selling neatly bundled fuelwood have become common. In Jharkhand, outside the Ranchi railway station, there is a newfound love for fuelwood. The fabled story of the Lohardaga passenger train reaching Ranchi with more fuelwood than passengers has resurfaced in people’s consciousness. In Odisha’s Balangir, LPG users are the new customers for fuelwood. It seems India has been forced into seeking primitive source of cooking fuel at a time the oil crisis of the 21st century rages on.
Those who remember the 1974 oil crisis must recall a similar LPG shortgae. It was the decade that saw India’s great transition from firewood to LPG started—from the local daily markets that sold fuelwood alongside vegetables to LPG retail outlets, commonly known as agencies. Fuelwood was then what LPG is today. This transition is still not complete. The rush for what is an ancient way of cooking continues to dominate and ensure energy security or sovereignty for millions of households. Fuelwood is not just a source of energy but a multi-billion-dollar trade that sustains millions of rural households.
According to a survey by the National Statistical Office released in 2021, over a third of Indian households use fuelwood as the primary cooking fuel; around half of rural households do so. In 2009-2010, nearly 75 per cent rural households used fuelwood as the primary cooking fuel. So, the transition is far from its destination. In urban areas, the transition from fuelwood has neared completion, with 89 per cent households using LPG as the primary cooking source. However, there are still 11 states where over 50 per cent households use fuelwood or other solid fuels, like dung cakes, for cooking. States with high rural populations, like Chhattisgarh and Odisha, have more households using fuelwood. The National Family Health Survey-5 found that 41 per cent of the population cooks using biomass fuels like fuelwood and animal dung cake.
In fact, fuelwood continues to be a preferred cooking fuel across the world. Market research and consulting company Grand View Research puts the global fuelwood market size at $37.04 billion in 2024 and estimates that it would reach nearly $46 billion by 2030. The growth is attributed to rising demand in Asian and African countries, including India.
The consistent presence of fuelwood in household energy bucket is not a failure of the promised transition to cleaner energy sources. It is there because of its easy access, reliability of supply and affordability. The current rush for fuelwood due to LPG crisis is the evidence. Besides, fuelwood is a multi-billion-dollar rural livelihood market. A paper in the Journal of Development Economics estimates that about 18 per cent of total fuelwood collected in India was not meant for consumption in villages from where it was collected. This means it was sold in nearby towns and cities. In recent years cities are reporting increasing use of fuelwood, particularly in informal settlements. While the hazard of pollution remains with of fuelwood, the fuel itself simply cannot be ignored for its role in ensuring energy sovereignty.