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Electricity and household appliances · data and analysis

Electricity, water, sanitation and clean cooking in India

Read dated NFHS measures of electricity, improved water, sanitation and clean cooking, with rural–urban differences and careful household-versus-person labels.

PopulationIndia · independent analysisSources reviewed 11 October 2026

A useful account of household services separates electricity, water, sanitation and cooking fuel. The newest verified measure is not always from the same survey table. This page keeps NFHS-6 factsheet indicators distinct from detailed NFHS-5 measures that have not been replaced in the newer factsheet.

The checked figures

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Measure	Value	Who or what is counted?	Period and evidence
Population living in households with electricityIndia; Manipur excluded · Electricity and household appliances	98.3%	Population represented in the household survey, not number of households	2023–24 Official source ↗India—Key Indicators, indicator 4; printed p.4 / PDF p.26 Definition and limits Provisional NFHS-6 estimates for the 2023–24 round; fieldwork May 2023–December 2024; Manipur excluded. Not 2026 administrative counts. Household-based and person-based indicators have different denominators. Each indicator retains its published universe. Improved drinking-water source is a source-type classification, including specified piped, protected and packaged sources. It does not by itself establish water quality testing, uninterrupted supply or safely managed service. Electricity presence is different from reliability, hours of supply and affordability. An account held by any household member is different from individual access or usage. NFHS-5 totals are shown only as printed by NFHS-6. Round comparisons need attention to changed coverage and definitions; do not mix a household share with a person share.
Population living in households with an improved drinking-water sourceIndia; Manipur excluded · Electricity and household appliances	96.5%	Population represented in the household survey, not number of households	2023–24 Official source ↗India—Key Indicators, indicator 5; printed p.4 / PDF p.26 Definition and limits Provisional NFHS-6 estimates for the 2023–24 round; fieldwork May 2023–December 2024; Manipur excluded. Not 2026 administrative counts. Household-based and person-based indicators have different denominators. Each indicator retains its published universe. Improved drinking-water source is a source-type classification, including specified piped, protected and packaged sources. It does not by itself establish water quality testing, uninterrupted supply or safely managed service. Electricity presence is different from reliability, hours of supply and affordability. An account held by any household member is different from individual access or usage. NFHS-5 totals are shown only as printed by NFHS-6. Round comparisons need attention to changed coverage and definitions; do not mix a household share with a person share.
Households reporting basic sanitation serviceIndia · Electricity and household appliances	69.3%	Households represented by NFHS-5; not persons	2019–21 Official source ↗Table 2.2, printed p.35 / PDF p.70 Definition and limits Historical NFHS-5 survey estimates for 2019–21; do not label these as current 2026 asset access or substitute them into NFHS-6. Values in this series describe households. The separate deJurePopulationPercent field is the percentage of usual-resident people in such households and can differ. Pucca is the survey’s materials-based classification, not a certificate of legal tenure, structural safety, floor area or housing affordability. Clean cooking fuel includes electricity, LPG/natural gas and biogas. The reported fuel measure does not establish exclusive use, refill affordability or the absence of other fuels. Basic sanitation means use of an improved facility not shared with another household; it is not a measure of sewage treatment or safely managed sanitation. Possession of an asset does not count devices, establish device quality or usage, or prove a person can use it. Ownership of a house is the survey response, not a title-registry audit.
Households reporting clean cooking fuelIndia · Electricity and household appliances	58.6%	Households represented by NFHS-5; not persons	2019–21 Official source ↗Table 2.6, printed p.40 / PDF p.75; definition on printed p.41 Definition and limits Historical NFHS-5 survey estimates for 2019–21; do not label these as current 2026 asset access or substitute them into NFHS-6. Values in this series describe households. The separate deJurePopulationPercent field is the percentage of usual-resident people in such households and can differ. Pucca is the survey’s materials-based classification, not a certificate of legal tenure, structural safety, floor area or housing affordability. Clean cooking fuel includes electricity, LPG/natural gas and biogas. The reported fuel measure does not establish exclusive use, refill affordability or the absence of other fuels. Basic sanitation means use of an improved facility not shared with another household; it is not a measure of sewage treatment or safely managed sanitation. Possession of an asset does not count devices, establish device quality or usage, or prove a person can use it. Ownership of a house is the survey response, not a title-registry audit.
Households with any usual member having a bank/post office accountIndia; Manipur excluded · Electricity and household appliances	98.2%	Households with at least one usual member holding an account; not the share of people with an active account	2023–24 Official source ↗India—Key Indicators, indicator 8; printed p.4 / PDF p.26 Definition and limits Provisional NFHS-6 estimates for the 2023–24 round; fieldwork May 2023–December 2024; Manipur excluded. Not 2026 administrative counts. Household-based and person-based indicators have different denominators. Each indicator retains its published universe. Improved drinking-water source is a source-type classification, including specified piped, protected and packaged sources. It does not by itself establish water quality testing, uninterrupted supply or safely managed service. Electricity presence is different from reliability, hours of supply and affordability. An account held by any household member is different from individual access or usage. NFHS-5 totals are shown only as printed by NFHS-6. Round comparisons need attention to changed coverage and definitions; do not mix a household share with a person share.
Women aged 15–49 who have ever used the internetIndia; Manipur excluded · Electricity and household appliances	64.3%	Women aged 15–49 represented by the survey; ever-use, not current or daily use	2023–24 Official source ↗India—Key Indicators, indicator 14; printed p.4 / PDF p.26 Definition and limits Provisional NFHS-6 estimates for the 2023–24 round; fieldwork May 2023–December 2024; Manipur excluded. Not 2026 administrative counts. Household-based and person-based indicators have different denominators. Each indicator retains its published universe. Improved drinking-water source is a source-type classification, including specified piped, protected and packaged sources. It does not by itself establish water quality testing, uninterrupted supply or safely managed service. Electricity presence is different from reliability, hours of supply and affordability. An account held by any household member is different from individual access or usage. NFHS-5 totals are shown only as printed by NFHS-6. Round comparisons need attention to changed coverage and definitions; do not mix a household share with a person share.
Men aged 15–49 who have ever used the internetIndia; Manipur excluded · Electricity and household appliances	80.5%	Men aged 15–49 represented by the survey; ever-use, not current or daily use	2023–24 Official source ↗India—Key Indicators, indicator 15; printed p.4 / PDF p.26 Definition and limits Provisional NFHS-6 estimates for the 2023–24 round; fieldwork May 2023–December 2024; Manipur excluded. Not 2026 administrative counts. Household-based and person-based indicators have different denominators. Each indicator retains its published universe. Improved drinking-water source is a source-type classification, including specified piped, protected and packaged sources. It does not by itself establish water quality testing, uninterrupted supply or safely managed service. Electricity presence is different from reliability, hours of supply and affordability. An account held by any household member is different from individual access or usage. NFHS-5 totals are shown only as printed by NFHS-6. Round comparisons need attention to changed coverage and definitions; do not mix a household share with a person share.

The newer electricity and water estimates count people in households

The provisional NFHS-6 national factsheet reports that 98.3% of the household population lives in households with electricity. The rural share is 97.8% and the urban share 99.5%. For an improved drinking-water source, the corresponding national figure is 96.5%, with 95.4% rural and 99.1% urban.

These are population-based percentages, rather than percentages of connections or of households. Electricity presence does not establish the number of hours supplied, reliability or affordability. Improved water describes the source classification used by the survey; it should not be relabeled universally safe water, continuous piped supply or laboratory-tested drinking water.

The factsheets were released on 29 May 2026 for the NFHS-6 2023–24 survey round, with fieldwork spanning May 2023–December 2024. The release is provisional and excludes Manipur. The release year should remain separate from the fieldwork period, and the national coverage note belongs beside the figures.

Evidence: National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6), 2023–24: India and State/UT Fact Sheets

Keep detailed sanitation and cooking measures on their own date

The detailed NFHS-5 report gives 69.3% of households using basic sanitation in 2019–21: 63.6% rural and 80.7% urban. Its definition requires an improved facility that is not shared with other households. This is different from counting every improved facility, including shared ones, and it does not establish safe treatment of all sewage.

For clean cooking fuel, NFHS-5 reports 58.6% of households nationally, 43.2% rural and 89.7% urban. The report’s clean-fuel definition includes electricity, LPG or natural gas, and biogas. The headline does not establish exclusive use of that fuel, continuous access, refill affordability or the absence of other fuels in the household.

Both figures are household percentages. The detailed sanitation and cooking indicators used here are not present as replacement tables in the NFHS-6 national factsheet. They therefore retain their NFHS-5 year and household denominator, even though newer electricity and water data can appear on the same page.

Evidence: National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019–21: India, Volume I · National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6), 2023–24: India and State/UT Fact Sheets

Related access indicators also need their exact questions

NFHS-6 reports that 98.2% of households have at least one usual member with a bank or post-office account. That is not a claim that 98.2% of individuals have an account, that every adult in those households is included, or that all accounts are active.

The same factsheet records ever using the internet among 64.3% of women and 80.5% of men aged 15–49. These individual lifetime-experience questions are distinct from a household having internet, recent use, smartphone ownership or affordable continuous access. Combining them into one access rate would remove distinctions that matter to a service provider.

Evidence: National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6), 2023–24: India and State/UT Fact Sheets

Compare services without creating a false composite

Several high percentages do not tell us how many households have all services together. The people without electricity may overlap partly, entirely or not at all with those without improved water. Marginal percentages cannot identify that joint distribution, and combining different survey years makes the problem larger.

For a practical comparison, display the service, geography, reference period, percentage and denominator together. Compare rural with urban within the same indicator before drawing wider conclusions. A service-planning exercise should then add evidence on reliability, quality and the specific local population it aims to serve, keeping those additional findings separate from the survey’s original measures.

Evidence: National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019–21: India, Volume I · National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6), 2023–24: India and State/UT Fact Sheets

Explore the detailed tables

The source’s units, dates and definitions stay alongside the figures.

Population living in households with electricity, NFHS-6

2023–24. Population represented in the household survey, not number of households.

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Place or category	Value%
Urban India (survey coverage)	99.5%
Rural India (survey coverage)	97.8%
India (Manipur excluded)	98.3%

Provisional NFHS-6 estimates for the 2023–24 round; fieldwork May 2023–December 2024; Manipur excluded. Not 2026 administrative counts. Household-based and person-based indicators have different denominators. Each indicator retains its published universe. Improved drinking-water source is a source-type classification, including specified piped, protected and packaged sources. It does not by itself establish water quality testing, uninterrupted supply or safely managed service. Electricity presence is different from reliability, hours of supply and affordability. An account held by any household member is different from individual access or usage. NFHS-5 totals are shown only as printed by NFHS-6. Round comparisons need attention to changed coverage and definitions; do not mix a household share with a person share.

Original source table ↗ · India—Key Indicators, indicator 4; printed p.4 / PDF p.26

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Population living in households with an improved drinking-water source, NFHS-6

2023–24. Population represented in the household survey, not number of households.

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Place or category	Value%
Urban India (survey coverage)	99.1%
Rural India (survey coverage)	95.4%
India (Manipur excluded)	96.5%

Original source table ↗ · India—Key Indicators, indicator 5; printed p.4 / PDF p.26

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Households: basic sanitation service, NFHS-5

2019–21. Households represented by NFHS-5, according to urban/rural residence.

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Place or category	Value% of households
Urban India	80.7%
Rural India	63.6%
India	69.3%

Historical NFHS-5 survey estimates for 2019–21; do not label these as current 2026 asset access or substitute them into NFHS-6. Values in this series describe households. The separate deJurePopulationPercent field is the percentage of usual-resident people in such households and can differ. Pucca is the survey’s materials-based classification, not a certificate of legal tenure, structural safety, floor area or housing affordability. Clean cooking fuel includes electricity, LPG/natural gas and biogas. The reported fuel measure does not establish exclusive use, refill affordability or the absence of other fuels. Basic sanitation means use of an improved facility not shared with another household; it is not a measure of sewage treatment or safely managed sanitation. Possession of an asset does not count devices, establish device quality or usage, or prove a person can use it. Ownership of a house is the survey response, not a title-registry audit.

Original source table ↗ · Table 2.2, printed p.35 / PDF p.70

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Households: clean cooking fuel, NFHS-5

2019–21. Households represented by NFHS-5, according to urban/rural residence.

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Place or category	Value% of households
Urban India	89.7%
Rural India	43.2%
India	58.6%

Original source table ↗ · Table 2.6, printed p.40 / PDF p.75; definition on printed p.41

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Households with any usual member having a bank/post office account, NFHS-6

2023–24. Households with at least one usual member holding an account; not the share of people with an active account.

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Place or category	Value%
Urban India (survey coverage)	97.3%
Rural India (survey coverage)	98.6%
India (Manipur excluded)	98.2%

Original source table ↗ · India—Key Indicators, indicator 8; printed p.4 / PDF p.26

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Women aged 15–49 who have ever used the internet, NFHS-6

2023–24. Women aged 15–49 represented by the survey; ever-use, not current or daily use.

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Place or category	Value%
Urban India (survey coverage)	77.3%
Rural India (survey coverage)	58.6%
India (Manipur excluded)	64.3%

Original source table ↗ · India—Key Indicators, indicator 14; printed p.4 / PDF p.26

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Men aged 15–49 who have ever used the internet, NFHS-6

2023–24. Men aged 15–49 represented by the survey; ever-use, not current or daily use.

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Place or category	Value%
Urban India (survey coverage)	87.1%
Rural India (survey coverage)	77.1%
India (Manipur excluded)	80.5%

Original source table ↗ · India—Key Indicators, indicator 15; printed p.4 / PDF p.26

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Official evidence and definitions

National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019–21: India, Volume I
International Institute for Population Sciences and ICF; Ministry of Health & Family Welfare · NFHS-5, 2019–21 · 2022-05-05. Tables 2.2, 2.6, 2.11, 2.12 and 10.25; exact table/page attached to each metric or series
Read from an archived original IIPS report after live IIPS and DHS download failures. Table headers and representative numeric pages were visually checked. Archived copy of the official source
National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6), 2023–24: India and State/UT Fact Sheets
International Institute for Population Sciences; Ministry of Health & Family Welfare · NFHS-6 survey round, 2023–24; fieldwork May 2023–December 2024 · 2026-05-29. India—Key Indicators, printed p.4 / PDF p.26; indicator numbers attached to each metric

PopulationIndia analyses and presents the evidence independently. Government and other named agencies publish the original data. Reference periods belong to the figures; the review date does not make an older statistic current.