Purpose : The paper tried to look into the inter-district variations in the level of energy poverty in Assam and to explore its determinants.

Methodology : The study was based on secondary data provided by district-level fact sheets of the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5). The status of district-level energy poverty was analyzed through the lens of a composite energy poverty index (EPI). The logistic transformation model is used for exploring the factors affecting energy poverty from an econometric point of view.

Findings : The study found a low level of variation in the level of energy poverty across the districts of Assam. Cooking fuel poverty was found to be significantly more prominent in relation to lighting fuel poverty. Empirical results revealed that energy poverty was positively and significantly affected by income poverty, while it was negatively and significantly influenced by human development, urbanization, and workforce participation rate (WPR).

Practical Implications : Income poverty needs to be cut short with a view to reducing energy poverty in Assam. This is because with a high level of income poverty, satisfaction of the basic needs usually becomes the top-most priority of the impoverished at the cost of energy or any other needs. At this juncture, they preferred to stay energy poor by switching down to the use of dirty and inefficient energy fuels and reallocate the minimum available economic resources for the satisfaction of critical primary needs. The state and the concerned organizations must also aim at accelerating the pace of human development as it could seriously damage the extent of energy poverty. The policy implication of a negative and significant WPR was that the opportunity cost of time became high for the masses, and this induced households to shift toward the use of modern fuels. Urbanization has led to a significant reduction of energy poverty by raising more earning opportunities and cutting short the sources of dirty and unhealthy energy fuel.

Originality : To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first novel attempt to assess the status of energy poverty and identify its correlates in Assam by making use of secondary data.

1. Awan, A., Bilgili, F., & Rahut, D. B. (2022). Energy poverty trends and determinants in Pakistan: Empirical evidence from eight waves of HIES 1998–2019. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 158, Article ID 112157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2022.112157
2. Bersisa, M. (2019). Multidimensional measure of household energy poverty and its determinants in Ethiopia. In Economic transformation for poverty reduction in Africa: A multidimensional approach (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429268939-4
3. Boardman, B. (1991). Fuel poverty: From cold homes to affordable warmth. Belhaven Press. https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Fuel_Poverty.html?id=HwYtAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y
4. Boro, S., & Roy, M (2022). Energy basket model: A tool for examining households' choice of cooking fuels and their switching pattern. Arthshastra Indian Journal of Economics & Research, 11(3), 29–38. https://doi.org/10.17010/aijer/2022/v11i3/172681
5. Charlier, D., & Legendre, B. (2019). A multidimensional approach to measuring fuel poverty. The Energy Journal, 40(2), 27–54. https://doi.org/10.5547/01956574.40.2.bleg
6. Choudhury, D., & Roy, M. (2025). Inter-state variations in the level of total fertility rate in India and its determinants: Evidence from National Family Health Survey-5. Arthshastra Indian Journal of Economics & Research, 14(1), 28–43. https://doi.org/10.17010/aijer/2025/v14i1/174334
7. Culver, L. (2017). Energy poverty: What you measure matters. Stanford University.
8. Cyrek, M., & Cyrek, P. (2022). Rural specificity as a factor influencing energy poverty in European Union countries. Energies, 15(15), 5463. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15155463
9. Government of Assam, Transportation and Development. (2014). Assam human development report 2014: managing diversities, achieving human development. Planning and Development Department, Government of Assam. https://sita.assam.gov.in/portlets/assam-human-development-report-0
10. Green, K. P., Jackson, T., Herzog, I., & Palacios, M. (2016). Energy costs and Canadian households: How much are we spending? Fraser Institute.
11. Heindl, P. (2015). Measuring fuel poverty: General considerations and application to German household data. Public Finance Analysis, 71(2), 178–215. https://doi.org/10.1628/001522108X14285723527593
12. Ismail, Z., & Khembo, P. (2015). Determinants of energy poverty in South Africa. Journal of Energy in Southern Africa, 26(3), 66–78. https://doi.org/10.17159/2413-3051/2015/v26i3a2130
13. Jain, M., Mathew, R., Sanyal, S., & Pal, S. (2019). Is having access to electricity enough to address energy poverty in India? International Journal of Science and Research, 8(11), 1984–1988. https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=ART20202872
14. Kateja, A., & Medatwal, P. (2024). Environmental sustainability: Scrutinizing the state of states. Arthshastra Indian Journal of Economics & Research, 13(1), 23–38. https://doi.org/10.17010/aijer/2024/v13i1/173412
15. Mathur, R., & Kapoor, N. (2026). Exploring the feminization hypothesis: An empirical study on India. Review of Social Sciences and Humanities Research, 1(1), 31–44. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.64006/rsshr/1105
16. Maxim, A., Mihai, C., Apostoaie, C.-M., Popescu, C., Istrate, C., & Bostan, J. (2016). Implications and measurement of energy poverty across the European Union. Sustainability, 8(5), 483. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8050483
17. Murtaza, G., & Faridi, M. Z. (2015). Causality linkages among energy poverty, income inequality, income poverty and growth: A systematic dynamic modelling approach. The Pakistan Development Review, 54(4, Part I–II), 407–425. https://doi.org/10.30541/v54i4I-IIpp.407-425
18. Pachuri, S., & Spreng, D. (2004). Energy use and energy access in relation to poverty. Economic and Political Weekly, 39(3), 271–278. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4414526
19. Pelz, S., Pachauri, S., & Groh, S. (2018). A critical review of modern approaches for multidimensional energy poverty measurement. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, 7(6), e304. https://doi.org/10.1002/wene.304
20. Rafi, M., Naseef, M., & Prasad, S. (2021). Multidimensional energy poverty and human capital development: Empirical evidence from India. Energy Economics, 101, Article ID 105427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2021.105427
21. Ramanathan, R. (2008). Introductory econometrics with applications (5th ed, pp. 258–560). Cengage Learning.
22. Roy, M., & Nath, M. (2025). The state of household level financial literacy and its determinants: Evidence from Cachar district of rural Assam. Arthshastra Indian Journal of Economics & Research, 14(2), 51–64. https://doi.org/10.17010/aijer/2025/v14i2/174570
23. Roy, M. (2017). Incidence of hunger and its determinants across major states of India. Arthshastra Indian Journal of Economics & Research, 6(1), 46–52. https://doi.org/10.17010/aijer/2017/v6i1/111022
24. Villalobos, C., Chávez, C., & Uribe, A. (2019). Energy poverty measures and the identification of the energy poor: A comparison between the utilitarian and multidimensional approaches in Chile. SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3564827