Empowering rural women and promoting clean cooking through Ujjwala sakhis

• Aug 4, 2025
• 1 min

Despite the widespread rollout of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) in 2016, which provided free LPG connections to low-income women in India, a significant number of households continued to rely on biomass fuels for cooking. This persistent dependence led to severe indoor air pollution, health hazards, and reduced productivity due to time spent on fuel collection. One of the key challenges was the low rate of LPG cylinder refills. Nearly 30% of beneficiaries did not refill their cylinders regularly.

To address these gaps, MSC implemented a community-based solution by developing and scaling a network of women agents known as Ujjwala Sakhis. These women, drawn from rural communities, were trained to act as last-mile delivery and awareness agents for LPG usage. MSC provided technical and operational support to strengthen the LPG distribution system, increase awareness of the benefits of clean cooking fuel, and enable better access to credit for LPG refills through targeted microloans.

The initiative led to significant improvements in LPG adoption and women’s economic empowerment. Over 1,000 Ujjwala Sakhis earned supplementary income by facilitating access to LPG in their communities. The initiative resulted in over 450,000 LPG refills and the disbursement of more than 12,500 targeted Ujjwala loans. These outcomes reduced the burden of collecting traditional fuel and improved health outcomes and environmental benefits, including the reduction of 20 kilotons of CO₂ emissions. The project demonstrated the power of grassroots women-led models in driving behavior change and improving access to clean energy solutions.

The Gates Foundation commissioned the project.