Induction vs Infrared Cooktop: Which One to Buy for an Indian Kitchen

Short answer: buy an induction cooktop if your cookware has a magnetic base, or you are ready to buy some. It heats faster, wastes less heat and the glass stays cooler. Buy an infrared cooktop if you want to keep using aluminium cookers, copper, clay or old steel vessels, because infrared heats any utensil. On our live deals, induction cooktops start around ₹1,299 and infrared cooktops around ₹1,898, so the price gap is small. The real deciding factor is the cookware already in your kitchen.

On a shop page the two look almost identical: a black glass top, a touch panel, and 2000-2200 W on the box. Under the glass they work very differently, and that decides three things: what you can cook, how hot the top gets, and which vessels you will have to replace.

How induction and infrared cooktops actually heat

Induction has a copper coil under the glass. When it runs, the coil creates a changing magnetic field. A pan with an iron-based (ferromagnetic) bottom placed on that field heats up by itself. The glass is not the heater; it only gets warm from the hot pan above it. If the pan is not magnetic, it does not heat, and most induction cooktops beep, show an error and stop.

Infrared has a heating element under the glass that glows and heats the glass plate. It is sold as an "infrared stove", an "infra cooktop" or, confusingly, an "infrared induction cooktop". The hot glass then heats whatever sits on it. Because the heat comes from the surface, the vessel's material does not matter. Aluminium, copper, brass, clay, glass-ceramic and non-magnetic steel all work.

That one difference explains every pro and con below.

Induction vs infrared: side-by-side comparison

Point	Induction cooktop	Infrared cooktop
Cookware	Magnetic base only (cast iron, iron tawa, steel or aluminium marked "induction base")	Any material, any flat-bottomed vessel
How it heats	The pan heats itself through a magnetic field	The glass plate heats up and passes the heat to the pan
Heating speed	Faster, because heat starts in the pan	Slower start, because the glass warms up first
Glass after cooking	Warm from the pan, cools quickly	Very hot, stays hot for several minutes
Response when you turn the power down	Almost instant	Lags, because the glass holds heat
Small vessels	May not detect a very small pan or steel katori	Heats anything on the plate
Typical wattage on our deals	1600-2100 W	2000-2200 W
Live price range on RichDeals	about ₹1,299 to ₹4,799	about ₹1,898 to ₹2,990

The magnet test: check your cookware before you buy

This takes ten seconds and prevents a wrong purchase. Hold a fridge magnet against the bottom of each vessel you use daily:

• The magnet sticks firmly: the vessel will work on induction.
• It sticks weakly: it may work, but it can heat unevenly or trigger errors.
• It does not stick: it will not work on induction, but it will work on infrared.

In most Indian kitchens, these usually fail the test:

• the plain aluminium pressure cooker
• the hindalium kadhai
• the copper-bottom patila
• many older stainless steel vessels

If more than half your daily vessels fail, infrared is the cheaper path: you buy one appliance instead of an appliance plus a new set of pots.

If you do go with induction, buy cookware labelled induction base. Examples:

• a Pigeon 3-litre induction-base pressure cooker
• a Nirlon 24 cm induction kadhai with a glass lid
• a Butterfly triply stainless steel 5-piece set

Which one cooks Indian food better?

Dal, rice and pressure cooking: both work. Induction usually brings a cooker to its first whistle sooner because the base heats directly, but only if the cooker has an induction base.

Tadka and deep frying: induction has the edge. When you turn it down, the pan stops getting heat almost at once, so the jeera does not burn while you reach for the next spice. On infrared, the hot glass keeps cooking for a few seconds after you turn it down.

Rotis on a tawa: both handle a flat tawa. A deeply curved tawa or a round-bottom kadhai touches the flat glass at only one small spot. It heats poorly on both types, and induction may not detect it at all. Use flat-bottom vessels on either cooktop, and never place a roti directly on the glass.

Clay pots, copper handi, glass kettles: infrared only.

Roasting papad or corn: some infrared models come with a steel grill rack that sits above the glass. Two examples are the Usha IR2200TCB with grill and the Longway Infralite Pro. Induction cannot do this, because a grill rack is not a magnetic pan.

Safety: hot glass is the real difference

Induction: the glass only gets as hot as the pan sitting on it, and it cools quickly once the pan is lifted. Most models cut power when no pan is detected.

Infrared: the glass itself is the heater. It stays hot enough to burn a hand for several minutes after switch-off, which is why many models have a "hot surface" warning light. In a home with small children, or where the cooktop sits on a narrow counter people lean on, that matters more than a few minutes of speed.

On either type, look for:

• auto shut-off
• overheat protection
• a child lock
• the words BIS certified in the listing

Electricity bill: how to work it out yourself

The wattage on the box is the maximum draw. At full power a cooktop uses its rated watts; on lower settings it cycles on and off and uses less.

The maths is watts × hours ÷ 1000 = units (kWh). For example:

• A 2000 W cooktop at full power for 1 hour uses 2 units.
• At ₹7 per unit, that hour costs ₹14. ₹7 is only an example; use the slab rate on your own bill.
• Twenty minutes of full-power cooking uses about 0.67 units.

Induction usually finishes the same task sooner because less heat escapes into the air and glass, so it tends to use fewer units per dish. Infrared spends some energy heating the glass first. For a family cooking about an hour a day, the difference on the monthly bill is modest, not dramatic.

Power cuts and inverters

Most comparison pages skip this question. A 2000-2200 W cooktop is a heavy load, and many home inverters installed for fans and lights are rated well below that. Check the VA or watt rating on your inverter before running any electric cooktop on backup. If the inverter cannot carry the load, it will trip or drain the battery quickly.

If cooking during power cuts matters to you, consider a lower-wattage induction model such as the Prestige PIC 20 (1600 W). For long outages, keep a gas burner.

Live deals: induction cooktops

Prices below are what each deal listed when this guide was written. Every deal page shows the current price and stock.

Model	Power	Listed price
Cadlec CookFusion induction cooktop	2000 W	₹1,299
Longway Cruiser IC-PB, BIS certified	2000 W	₹1,499
Pigeon Rapido feather-touch	1800 W	₹1,999
Prestige PIC 20	1600 W	₹2,182
Curaa IndiePro with rotary knob	2100 W	₹4,799

For a deeper induction-only shortlist, read our best induction cooktops in India guide.

Live deals: infrared cooktops

Model	Power	Listed price
LivHome Infra Pro	2200 W	₹1,898
Digismart Emerald, touch panel	2200 W	₹2,198
Kenstar Infra Lumo, 11 power levels	2000 W	₹2,429
Usha IR2200TCB with grill	2200 W	₹2,540
iBELL Crown 22	2000 W	₹2,990

More kitchen appliance deals are on the offers page.

So which should you buy?

• Choose induction if most of your vessels pass the magnet test, you fry and temper often, there are children at home, or you want the lowest running cost per dish.
• Choose infrared if your daily cooker and kadhai are plain aluminium, you cook in clay or copper, or you want a grill rack for papad and corn.
• Keep a gas burner as backup for long power cuts, whichever type you pick.