Liquified petroleum gas (LPG) is an important clean fuel alternative for households that rely on burning biomass for daily cooking needs. In India, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has provided poor households with LPG connections since 2016. We investigate cooking fuel use in households to determine the impact of the policy in the Central Indian Highlands Landscape (CIHL). The CIHL has a large population of marginalized social groups, including Indigenous, Scheduled Tribe, Scheduled Caste, and Other Backward Caste people. We utilize survey data from 4994 households within 500 villages living in forested regions collected in 2018 and a satellite-derived measure of forest availability to investigate the household and ecological determinants of LPG adoption and the timing of this adoption (pre- or post-2016). In addition, we document patterns of firewood collection and evaluate the extent to which households acquiring LPG change these activities. The probability of cooking with LPG was lowest for marginalized social groups. We observe that households recently adopting LPG, likely through PMUY, are poorer, more socially marginalized, less educated, and have more forest available nearby than their early-adopter counterparts. While 90% of LPG-using households continue to use firewood, households that have owned LPG for more years report spending less time collecting firewood, indicating a waning reliance on firewood over time. Policies targeting communities with marginalized social groups living near forests can further accelerate LPG adoption and displace firewood use. Despite overall growth in LPG use, disparities in access to clean cooking fuels remain between socioeconomic groups in India.

对于依赖燃烧生物质来满足日常烹饪需求的家庭来说，液化石油气（LPG）是一种重要的清洁燃料替代品。在印度， Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) 自 2016 年以来一直为贫困家庭提供液化石油气连接。我们调查了家庭烹饪燃料的使用情况，以确定该政策对中印度高地景观 (CIHL) 的影响。 CIHL 拥有大量边缘化社会群体，包括土著、在册部落、在册种姓和其他落后种姓。我们利用 2018 年收集的来自生活在森林地区 500 个村庄的 4994 个家庭的调查数据以及卫星得出的森林可用性测量数据来调查采用液化石油气的家庭和生态决定因素以及采用的时间（2016 年之前或之后） 。此外，我们记录了柴火收集模式，并评估了家庭购买液化石油气对这些活动的改变程度。对于边缘化社会群体来说，使用液化石油气做饭的可能性最低。我们观察到，最近采用液化石油气（可能是通过 PMUY）的家庭比早期采用液化石油气的家庭更贫穷，社会边缘化程度更高，受教育程度较低，并且附近有更多的森林。虽然 90% 的使用液化石油气的家庭继续使用柴火，但拥有液化石油气多年的家庭表示，收集柴火的时间较少，这表明随着时间的推移，对柴火的依赖逐渐减弱。针对森林附近边缘社会群体社区的政策可以进一步加速液化石油气的采用并取代木柴的使用。尽管液化石油气的使用量总体增长，但印度社会经济群体之间在获得清洁烹饪燃料方面仍然存在差距。