India's energy illusion: why ambitious targets mean nothing without a coherent plan

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The global situation in the oil market has been steadily worsening. This is putting a huge stress on India. India's petroleum consumption depends on 85% of imported crude oil.

Also, India imports 50% of its Gas consumption. Since the beginning of the Israel-USA-Iran war, the crude oil price has risen from US$ 65/barrel to nearly US$ 105. Around 7 barrels make a tonne, and India imports around 240 million tonnes of crude oil.

This, along with the disruption in world trade, has raised India’s exchange rate to ₹95 per US$. The government has maintained consumer prices for petroleum products by cutting excise rates and has made oil companies absorb the losses. This has also worsened the fiscal deficit.Now that the Bengal election is over, and the war does not seem about to end, the PM has appealed to people to cut down on petroleum product consumption and conserve foreign exchange.

A much more effective way to reduce consumption would be to raise prices. That, I don't think the government can delay much.Our domestic crude production is not rising; it has stagnated around 30 million tonnes and, in recent years, has even declined. Although we have in abundance coal, we are still importing 20 % of our use.

And the climate change concern has forced us to reduce its use. Thus, our energy security is almost non-existent. We have a long-term plan of replacing fossil fuels with renewables.

Fortunately, these have become cheaper and more competitive. That, however, does not help us in a crisis such as the Iran War has created. Nuclear has not lived up to its promise.

Cost and time overruns pushed nuclear into the background. Our fast breeder reactor has only recently gone critical. It is a vital