{"id":327151,"date":"2025-02-18T18:20:40","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T12:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=327151"},"modified":"2025-02-18T18:20:40","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T12:50:40","slug":"states-producing-thermal-power-bear-pollution-while-consuming-states-gain-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/states-producing-thermal-power-bear-pollution-while-consuming-states-gain-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"States producing thermal power bear pollution while consuming States gain benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Source<\/strong>: The post States producing thermal power bear pollution while consuming States gain benefits has been created, based on the article \u201c<strong>Lighten the pollution burden of thermal power States<\/strong>\u201d published in \u201c<strong>The Hindu<\/strong>\u201d on 18th February 2025<\/p>\n<p><strong>UPSC Syllabus Topic:<\/strong> GS Paper3- Infrastructures- Energy<\/p>\n<p><strong>Context<\/strong>: The article discusses how States producing thermal power bear pollution burdens while consuming States benefit. It suggests compensating these States through taxes or Finance Commission transfers. It highlights India\u2019s electricity distribution, pollution impact, and the need for fair environmental burden-sharing.<\/p>\n<p>For detailed information on <strong>New thermal plants: A reality check<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/new-thermal-plants-a-reality-check\/\">read this article here<\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is the current status of electricity produce in India?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Total Installed Capacity<\/strong>: India&#8217;s total electricity generation capacity stands at <strong>4,56,757 MW<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong> Sector-wise Distribution<\/strong>:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Private sector<\/strong>: Leads with <strong>53.4%<\/strong> share.<\/li>\n<li><strong>State sector<\/strong>: Holds <strong>23.7%<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Central sector<\/strong>: Accounts for <strong>22.9%<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li><strong>Thermal Power Share<\/strong>: Represents a significant portion with <strong>2,37,268.91 MW<\/strong> out of the total capacity.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li><strong> Private sector<\/strong>: <strong>85,899.095 MW (36.20%)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>State sector<\/strong>: <strong>75,991.905 MW (32.03%)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Central sector<\/strong>: <strong>75,377.91 MW (31.77%)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li><strong>Heavy Reliance on Coal<\/strong>: About <strong>59.12%<\/strong> of India&#8217;s energy supply is from coal, with thermal power being a major contributor to carbon emissions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>State Dynamics<\/strong>:<\/li>\n<li><strong> Key Producing States<\/strong>:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Maharashtra<\/strong>: <strong>31,510.08 MW<\/strong> (highest non-renewable capacity).<\/li>\n<li><strong> Uttar Pradesh<\/strong>: <strong>26,729.374 MW<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Gujarat<\/strong>: <strong>26,073.41 MW<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>b. Key Renewable Energy State<\/strong>: Rajasthan: 22,398.05 MW (highest renewable capacity).<\/p>\n<p><strong>c. Electricity Trade<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Chhattisgarh<\/strong>: Largest net seller (<strong>535.29 MW<\/strong>).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Gujarat<\/strong>: Largest net importer (<strong>528.17 MW<\/strong>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol start=\"6\">\n<li><strong>Pollution Burden<\/strong>: Producing States bear pollution, but consuming States benefit.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><strong>Do Producing States Receive Any Compensation?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>No direct compensation<\/strong> is given to States that generate electricity from central sector thermal power plants.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha<\/strong> produce the most thermal power but have <strong>lower per capita electricity consumption<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Coal-rich States<\/strong> bear pollution, while <strong>consuming States benefit<\/strong> from clean electricity.<\/li>\n<li><strong> Electricity production is tax-free<\/strong>, and <strong>GST is not imposed<\/strong> on transmission or distribution.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Finance Commissions<\/strong> have recommended environmental grants, but no specific compensation exists.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A new mechanism<\/strong> is needed to share environmental costs fairly.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><strong>What Should Be Done?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong> Imposing a Tax on Thermal Power Generation<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>Producing States can levy a tax on thermal power generation.<\/li>\n<li>The Union government can collect this tax and transfer it to them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>2.Compensation Through Finance Commission<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>Sixteenth Finance Commission<\/strong> can allocate funds based on environmental damage.<\/li>\n<li>The last three Finance Commissions have provided environmental grants.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li><strong> Recognizing Negative Externalities<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Chhattisgarh (535.29 MW) and Odisha (95.40 MW)<\/strong> sell electricity but bear pollution.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Gujarat (528.17 MW) and Maharashtra (187.50 MW)<\/strong> benefit without pollution costs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li><strong>Ensuring Fair Sharing of Environmental Costs<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>A <strong>new policy<\/strong> must ensure <strong>all States share pollution burdens fairly<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Electricity-importing States must <strong>compensate producing States<\/strong> for pollution.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Question for practice:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Examine how the current electricity distribution system in India impacts the environmental burden on producing States and the benefits received by consuming States.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: The post States producing thermal power bear pollution while consuming States gain benefits has been created, based on the article \u201cLighten the pollution burden of thermal power States\u201d published in \u201cThe Hindu\u201d on 18th February 2025 UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper3- Infrastructures- Energy Context: The article discusses how States producing thermal power bear pollution&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/states-producing-thermal-power-bear-pollution-while-consuming-states-gain-benefits\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">States producing thermal power bear pollution while consuming States gain benefits<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230],"tags":[216,299,10498],"class_list":["post-327151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","tag-gs-paper-3","tag-infrastructure","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327151\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}