Fuelwood Prices in India: Policy Implications

Abstract

The price of fuelwood has been increasing at a rate higher than that of the consumer price index in most of the major urban centres of India. Today. in terms of cost per unit of energy delivered, fuelwood is more than twice as expensive as kerosene for cooking. This has immense public policy implications. A number of complementary policy interventions are needed so that forests can be saved and the stability of energy supplies can be achieved in developing countries.

The saga of participatory forest management in India

“…Some authors (Bowonder et al 1986(Bowonder et al , 1988) make a distinction between use of fuelwood by rural people, which is largely twigs and branches and hence potentially sustainable, and by the urban sector. The greater use of logs and larger branches in the towns means that reasonably sized trees are sought after and cut, possibly in large patches.…”

Fuelwood Use in Urban Centres: A Case Study of Hyderabad

“…One of the major factors contributing to the increase in fuelwood extraction has been the increascd use of fuelwood in urban areas (McGranahan et al, 1980;Bhagavan, 1984;Bowonder, 1986b;Hammer, 1980;Hughes-Cromwick, 1983). The most notable study on this aspect has been that published comparing energy use in two Indian cities (Alam er al., 1985).…”