Title
High Economic Growth, Equity and Sustainable Energy Development of India
Abstract
@@India has been experiencing sustained high economic growth in the recentyears.
However, there exists substantial amount of unacceptable poverty among
the people in the country. The expressions of symptoms of such poverty
include among others inadequate educational and health attainment of the
people and lack of access to basic amenities like modern clean energy,
safe water and sanitation which are crucial determinants of capability
development. There exists in fact significant amount of energy poverty
among the people, particularly in the rural India which has more than 70%
share of its population, in the form of use of traditional inefficient
biomass as the primary fuel with injurious health effect and the lack of
connectivity of the households with electricity. The eleventh five year
plan of India which has recently been initiated has taken the approach
of inclusive faster growth for the development of the Indian economy. This
paper analyses the implications of this high inclusive growth in respect
of the twin challenges of environmental sustainability of the energy use
required by such growth and the removal of energy poverty, which have to
be addressed in India's energy planning. The paper defines the concept
of sustainable development and points out its resource accounting implications
in respect of energy related resource use. It focuses in this context on
the instrumental role of the efficiency of energy use and energy supply,
fuel composition and technology in determining the strength of the linkage
between the GDP growth and the growth of energy use and that between the
energy use and the pollution intensity of energy.
@@The paper also defines, on the other hand, the notion of energy poverty
and discusses the problem of equity and energy development in a dual society
like that of India. It then reviews the past trend and pattern of energy
use and the future projections of energy requirement and supply with special
reference to the twin issues of equity and environmental sustainability.
In this context it makes a decomposition analysis of the past energy use
and CO2 emissions in India for examining its environmental sustainability
and if economic reforms of India could make any impact on it. It makes
further a brief review of the methodologies of projections and policy planning
for the future energy sector development in India as existing in the recent
literature. Finally, the paper discusses certain selected issues of energy
security and macroeconomic viability of such energy development in the
background of the sustained steep rise of oil prices and high cost of carbon
free new technologies. It concludes by highlighting certain policy issues
relating to pricing, technology and institution for the attainability of
inclusive growth and particularly for meeting the gaps in such attainment
that would possibly remain as per the existing alternative projections
for the future. However, this paper does not pay any special attention
to the climate change related global policy issues that would affect India
and gives priority to the national level issues relating to energy equity
and energy related environmental sustainability of Indian development