Realizing the need to reduce fuel wood pressure from the forest, GoN has provided policy guidelines to encourage development and application of energy saving devices as well as promotion and dissemination of alternate energy technologies from its 9th Plan (1997-2002). GoN has given emphasis to further development of alternative energy sources in particular the improved cook stove in the 10th Plan (2003-2007). Within the plan period, GoN has target to install 2,50,000 additional ICSs. These initiatives will be supported by efforts to involve Research and Development Institutions to develop cost effective and appropriate models and designs, which could be disseminated in a larger scale in mountains, plains and hilly regions. The strategy of the government's policy focuses on the potential of renewable energy sources to improve the living standards of the rural population. Renewable energy should primarily be developed through a decentralized approach ensuring local ownership and private participation in providing services supported by external agents in terms of capacity building, empowering and other supports.

The AEPC/ESAP supported ICS Component has demonstrated that it is sustainable and possible to disseminate certain type of low cost stove without direct subsidies. The positive results of the first four years of implementation have been shared with the National ICS Network, and, through dialogue with government organizations. However, the issue regarding whether the costly stove with a lots of metal involved, specifically for higher altitude and colder climate needs subsidy is yet to be resolved. The dissemination of these metal stoves by UMN, CBED, etc., has demonstrated that it is extremely expensive to launch these subsidy-based stoves for very long time. Nevertheless, benefits associated with these stoves are also multi-dimensional. Therefore, proper designing of cost-benefit as well as subsidy requirement still needs in-depth review.