India’s Energy : Essays on Sustainable Development

India is emerging on the world scene as a major energy consumer. Growing imports of oil, gas and coal re-define the conditions that guarantee India’s energy security. India’s final energy demand grows faster than the development of its own national resources. Beyond, one can observe a regular growth in the intensity of polluting energy emissions of the economic activity. This is worsened by the misallocation of resources due to pricing policies, management systems, and more generally, policies that induce a lot of inefficiency and waste.

To tackle the long run constraints of the present demand and supply trends, drastic changes in the management of the sector are required. Implementation of reforms began in 1991. Some options exist but a number of bold decisions still have to be taken and implemented to fulfill the energy needs of a population that has now crossed one billion inhabitants. Hence the need to contribute to the debate on sustainable development and scenarios for the twenty-first century.

The present book intends to do so through a series of cogent articles on one specific energy sector, hydrocarbons. Energy and area experts analyse the economic, infrastructural, environmental and security stakes of India’s energy supply and provide some elements of solution for an issue whose development will dramatically affect the future of India, both as an economic and political power.