From flame to plug: what India’s micro-food vendors tell us about the commercial future of clean cooking

India’s micro food economy sits at the intersection of livelihoods, energy, and informality. With an estimated ten million micro-food enterprises operating across the country, these vendors feed millions every day while working on thin margins, long hours, and high exposure to heat, smoke, and fuel price volatility. Despite near-universal electrification at the household level, cooking for these enterprises has remained dominated by LPG and in some cases, traditional fuels such as firewood and coal. The latest field evidence from a research programme, funded by Shell Foundation via the Transforming Energy Access platform and executed by Finovista, offers a different picture: electric cooking is no longer a niche or theoretical option for this segment but an emerging commercial pathway when devices, infrastructure, and support systems align with how vendors actually work.

The research, titled Electrifying India’s Street Food: Income, Impact and the Path to Scalable eCooking Adoption followed 760 micro-food vendors across Delhi and Bihar over a three-month period in late 2025 as they integrated electric cooking technologies into real, revenue-generating operations. At the baseline, electricity accounted for less than 1% of primary cooking fuel use, while LPG dominated at 95%. By the end of the pilot, electricity had become the primary cooking fuel for 24% of participating vendors, with LPG reliance falling to 75% and traditional fuels reduced to just 1%. This shift did not occur through abrupt fuel switching but through gradual, task-by-task adoption as vendors tested eCooking for boiling, reheating and eventually higher-heat applications like frying.

What makes these findings commercially significant is not simply the change in fuel mix but how that change reshaped business operations. Vendors consistently reported shorter preparation cycles, the ability to run parallel cooking processes, and fewer disruptions caused by heat and smoke. Over half of the vendors were able to use electric cooking for more than four hours a day by the end of the trial and 49% reported using it for more than half of their total cooking needs. These operational shifts translated into business outcomes: 75% of vendors reported income increases, most commonly in the 30% range. Even among those who did not report higher income, improvements in working conditions and efficiency suggest potential longer-term gains.

As Jonathan Berman, CEO of Shell Foundation observed, the significance of the findings lies less in the technology itself and more in how it fits into vendors’ daily realities.

Energy costs tell a similarly important story. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is not just expensive for vendors but unpredictable, requiring large, upfront cash outlays for cylinder refills. Prior to the pilot, 45% of vendors refilled three or more LPG cylinders per month. After adopting electric cooking, 93% of LPG users reported a reduction in refills, with 88% saving at least one cylinder per month. On average, vendors reduced LPG consumption by 15.9 kilograms per month. While electricity bills increased, typically by less than INR 500 per month for over half of the vendors, the net effect remained positive: 71% reported overall monthly savings. Many redirected these savings into household expenses or business reinvestment, reinforcing the livelihood case for clean cooking as a productive input rather than a cost burden.

The pilot also demonstrated that technology choice matters significantly. India’s micro food economy is highly heterogeneous, with cookware ranging from large aluminium pots to round-bottomed woks. The study showed that no single electric device can meet all needs; while induction cooktops performed well for boiling, infrared and concave infrared devices were game changers. These technologies allowed vendors to retain their existing aluminium and round-bottomed vessels, lowering the behavioural and financial barriers to adoption. Vendors rated their experience highly, with 76% giving eCooking a five-star rating, though they were clear about limitations where power stability or grid capacity constrained performance.

Crucially, women were the “invisible backbone” of this transition. Women make up 52% of the vendor pool and the study found that 61% of those actively participating in the pilot operations were women. They reported significant reductions in “drudgery,” specifically citing shorter cleaning times for soot-free vessels and reduced heat stress in poorly ventilated spaces. Engaging women as enumerators and “Clean Cooking Champions” was also vital to the study’s success, as they built the trust necessary to monitor progress in informal and domestic kitchen settings.

Beyond individual stalls, the implications scale outward. Over just three months, the transition achieved 97.26 tons of CO² mitigation (excluding emissions from electricity generation) the 760 vendors. If only 7–8% of India’s estimated ten million food vendors were to adopt electric cooking, the report estimates annual emissions reductions of over 409,500 tons of CO² alongside foreign exchange savings of nearly USD 60 million from avoided LPG imports. These figures matter not only for climate targets but for national energy security and fiscal pressure linked to LPG subsidies.

Perhaps most striking is what the study reveals for utilities and policymakers. Vendors represent a latent, daytime electricity demand with predictable usage patterns, yet many remain excluded from formal connections due to documentation requirements that do not reflect informal vending realities. Addressing this gap is a major commercial opportunity for utilities to grow stable load while enabling safer, cleaner cooking practices. Taken together, these findings position electric cooking as a commercially viable pathway that improves productivity, stabilizes costs, and strengthens the resilient future of India’s street food culture.

As we expand this work, Shell Foundation welcomes engagement from funders, utilities and sector partners interested in supporting the next phase of e‑cooking innovation.