India needs an Integrated Energy Policy to provide clean, safe and convenient form of energy to all sectors in an economically viable manner. Discuss Critically.

Integrated Energy Policy is a complete policy on Energy which is composed to explore alternative technologies and possible synergies that could increase the energy efficiency of a country and also meet the domestic needs for energy services.

India’s energy requirement

As estimated by NITI Ayog,  India will need to increase the primary energy supply and electricity generation capacity in order to meet the energy needs of all its citizens by 2032. A large portion of India’s energy demand depends on imports In the coming days the dependence will also increase. The main objective of the Integrated Energy Policy is to meet the energy demands of all sectors in the country.

Aims and benefits

• Reduction of energy requirements.
• Expansion of resource base in both conventional as well as unconventional areas and both renewable and non-renewable sources.
• Setting up a strategic oil reserve (SOR).
• Implementation of power sector reforms.
• Increase the efficiency of fossil fuel consumption.
• Reduction of power cost.
• Boosting energy-related R&D
• Waste to Energy potentials exploring.

Necessity

There is always a need to provide a clean, safe, and convenient form of energy to all sectors in a country in an economically viable manner. In order to achieve the objective, India needs to expand its energy base through the exploration of all possible energy resources both conventional or non-conventional. Along with this India needs to pursue such strategies that could manage the 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.

Topics: GS-IV: Ethics and Human Interface