Roadmap to energy justice

Source: The post is based on the article “Roadmap to energy justice” published in The Indian Express on 2^nd May 2023.

Syllabus: GS 3 – Infrastructure – Energy

Relevance: measures taken by India to cater its rising energy demand.

News: India’s energy demand is growing. As per the BP energy outlook and IEA estimates, India will account for approximately 25 percent of global energy demand growth between 2020-2040.

The article discusses India’s position on various energy requirements and measures taken by India to check rising crude prices.

How has India been able to manage the rising prices of crude oil?

Prices of diesel in India have gone down in the last one year at a time when petrol and diesel prices went up by 35-40 per cent in the US, Canada, Spain and the UK.

India, despite being a major importer of crude oil and natural gas, has been able to control the prices of petrol and diesel.

This was made possible by – a) massive cuts in excise duty and VAT rates by several states, b) Oil PSUs absorbing huge losses to ensure that the rising prices of crude oil and natural gas in the international market were not passed on to Indian consumers, c) increasing subsidised APM gas for city gas distribution sector, d) imposing an export cess on petrol, diesel and ATF and windfall tax on domestically produced petroleum products, d) expanding its network of crude oil suppliers to Russia and the US to prevent supply disruptions, e) expanding refining capacity, f) purchasing petroleum products from certain nations has helped in keeping oil prices in check in the global value chain.

Note: India’s refining capacity is the fourth largest in the world after the US, China, and Russia.

What are other efforts being taken by India for its energy requirements?

Gas based economy: India is accelerating its efforts to move towards a gas-based economy by increasing the share of gas from the current 6.3 percent to 15 percent by 2030. The number of CNG stations in India has gone up from 938 in 2014 to 4,900 in 2023.

Since 2014, India has also increased the length of its gas pipeline network from 14,700 kms to 22,000 kms in 2023.

Biofuel: India has launched E20 (20 percent ethanol blended gasoline) which will be rolled out in 15 cities and expanded across the country in the next two years. India’s ethanol blending gasoline has grown from 1.53 percent in 2013-14 to 10.17 percent in 2023. 

India is also setting up five second generation ethanol plants, which can convert agricultural waste into biofuel.

Green Hydrogen: The National Green Hydrogen Mission has been launched to develop the entire green hydrogen ecosystem in the country and accelerate India’s efforts towards 4 MT of annual green hydrogen production. India is poised to realise its full potential to create a green hydrogen ecosystem by 2030.

Electric vehicles: India is supporting electric vehicles through a production linked incentive scheme to make advanced chemistry cells of 50 GW hours and has announced viability gap funding and customs duty exemptions for the sector.