Integrated Energy Policy in India
The Manmohan Singh government had launched an Integrated Energy Policy in mid 2000s. That policy envisaged an energy mix that focused on augmenting the domestic energy resource base and increasing efficiency while strategizing India’s stakes in energy assets overseas. The broad vision behind the Integrated Energy Policy was to reliably meet the demand for energy services of all sectors including the lifeline energy needs of vulnerable households in all parts of the country with safe, clean and convenient energy at the least cost.
Recently, NITI chairman Arvind Panagariya had renounced that NITI would soon launch an Integrated Energy Policy under NITI Ayog.
The below analysis gives some input on how and what should be content of an Integrated Energy Policy for India.
What should be the broader aims of an Integrated Energy Policy?
The following should be the major aims of an Integrated Energy Policy.
- Reduce Energy Requirements
- Expand Resource Base in both conventional and unconventional areas and both renewable and non-renewable sources.
- Build Strategic Oil Reserve (SOR)
- Implement Power Sector Reforms
- Increase efficency in fossil fuels consumption
- Independent regulation to achieve competitive efficiency
- Reduction in cost of Power
- Boosting Energy Related R&D
- Exploring Waste to Energy Potentials
Why there is a need of an Integrated Policy?
There is a need to provide clean, safe and convenient form of energy to all sectors in an economically viable manner. To achieve this objective India needs to expand its energy base by exploring all possible energy resources whether conventional or non conventional. Along with this India needs to pursue such strategies which manages demand side problems and promote conservation of coal and petroleum with a focus on increasing energy efficiency which shall remain India’s most important concerns regarding energy security till 2030.
What should be the Energy Priorities for India?
Achieving energy security, first and foremost requires development goals in rural areas where poverty condition are currently the greatest. This will require greater access and improved energy services as a means to reach education, health, water and other goals in these rural areas. Expanding energy services is a means to generate increased employment and income generating opportunities- and is therefore a pre- requisite to increased value adding activities in rural areas. For the policy – maker helping create a sustainable energy pathway will require broad social consensus around the strategic choices of economic, environmental and social development. Depending on their current state of development and priorities, India is likely to pursue different paths towards a variety of sustainable development options. It will require different policy mixes, likely incorporating fiscal, regulatory and research and development efforts. Transparency, stakeholder involvement and institutional flexibility will be the key ingredients for any set of decisions.
IESS, 2047
The IESS, 2047 is an online energy scenario building tool, which aims to explore a range of potential future energy scenarios for India, for diverse energy demand and supply sectors, leading up to 2047. 21 Energy Demand and Supply sectors, and 50 levers that will impact our energy system are available to the user. Combination of the above choices offer hundreds of energy pathways till the year 2047.