ENERGY STATUS OF INDIA

India has the world’s fifth-largest electricity generation capacity which currently stands at 243 GW. The power sector in India is highly diverse with varied commercial sources for power generation like coal, natural gas, hydro, oil and nuclear as well as unconventional sources of energy like solar, wind, bio-gas and biomass. The demand for power has been growing at a rapid rate and overtaken the supply, leading to power shortages in spite of manifold growth in power generation over the years. All societies require energy services to meet basic human needs (e.g., lighting, cooking, space comfort, mobility, communication) and to serve productive processes. Industrialization, urbanization, population growth, economic growth, improvement in per capita  consumption of electricity, depletion of coal reserve, increasing import of coal, crude oil and other energy sources and the rising concern over climate change have put India in a critical position. It has to take a tough stance to balance between economic development and environmental sustainability. One of the primary challenges for India would be to alter its existing energy mix which is dominated by coal to greater share of cleaner and sustainable sources of energy. For development to be sustainable, delivery of energy services need to be secure and have low environmental impacts. Renewable Energy offers opportunity to contribute to social and economic development, energy access, secure energy supply, climate change mitigation, and the reduction of negative environmental and health impacts.

The present installed power generation capacity of India is 268 GW, mostly powered by fossil fuels (70%). India’s power market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 7.5-8% till 2017-18. Power consumption is estimated to grow from ~1127 TWh in FY 2013 to ~3793 TWh in FY 2032 at a CAGR of 6%, while power generation has grown from FY 2007 to FY 2013 at CAGR of 5.5%. From April 2013 to March 2014, electricity generation grew at 5.96%. Continuing on the business-as-usual development of fossil fuel based generation on long term had limitations due to various factors such as limited fossil fuel resource availability, risks in securitizing external fuel supplies, macro-economic constraints like balance of payments problems and high current account deficit, externalities of fossil-based generation, international pressures relating to climate mitigation, constraints of water availability for thermal cooling etc. Dependence on import of fossil fuel would exposes India to risks of volatile prices , foreign exchange rate risks, competition with other importers, and domestic needs of the source countries.

About 90% of rural India is dependent on traditional fuels for cooking. Holistic planning for achieving these objectives requires quality energy statistics that is able to address the issues related to energy demand, energy poverty and environmental effects of energy growth. International Recommendations on Energy Statistics recommends that the format of energy balance and all applicable concepts are consistently used in the compilation of a commodity balance to ensure data consistency. The major sources for commercial energy in India are coal, oil products, natural gas and electricity. Non-energy producing sectors derive energy from the resources available in primary forms such as coal, crude oil, natural gas, hydro-power and nuclear power. Some of the energy resources are converted into other energy products that are used for purposes other than energy generation. Energy Statistics is brought out every year by Central Statistics Office. Holistic planning for improving requires quality energy statistics that is able to address the issues related to energy demand, energy poverty and environmental effects of energy growth. To meet the energy requirement, increase in renewable and non-conventional energy sources have been planned. The Wind Energy sector is scheduled to grow at 10-15% to meet the demand for power. Solar Energy is also estimated to reach 20 GW of energy capacity till 2022 due to heavy incentives offered by the government.