India has been on a fast growth trajectory for the past decade and half and more.

For us to maintain a Growth rate of at least 7%, a lot many factors are to
contribute but the main amongst them is the guaranteed supply of Energy. All the
developed countries today that have grown from the less developed status have
exhibited the same growth in demand for Energy and those countries which could
meet the demands of Energy showed a high growth rate. As we all understand
that Manufacturing, Agriculture and Services, all of these sectors will require a
huge amount of Energy to grow at an optimum pace.

The Demand for Power is expected to grow at a fast pace and will almost triple in
2040 if taken with Year 2018 as Base. In the past decade the Generation has
doubled from 157 GW (Giga Watts, 1 GW = 1000 MW or 1 Million KW) to about
345 GW placing India as the 3rd Largest Generator after US and China. On the
renewable Generation front , India has an installed capacity of about 70 GW and
by 2022 it is aimed to be about 175 GW. India reached the target of 100%
Electrification of villages in 2018 and despite the tremendous strides that have
been taken in the Generation side, India still faces a daunting task in meeting the
Growth in demand of Power.

Challenges in meeting the demands for Energy:

The main challenges that India faces in the path of meeting the Growing demand
for Energy are

1. Availability of fossil fuels and LNG/PNG in a limited region.

2. The regions where this is available may not be conducive to Indian

Interests.

3. Pollution caused by Fossil fuels.

4. Price fluctuations.

The largest deposits of Crude Oil are found in the Arabian Gulf, Western Africa,
North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. India does have a small quantity of Crude but
that is not enough to satisfy our demands and we have to necessarily Import the
same. As for coal, good quality Coal is found in Indonesian region of Kalimantan
and the North Eastern Seaboard of Australia.
India has huge Coal reserves and can last for about 250 years in the future as per
estimates. However this coal contains a high amount of Ash and therefore the
calorific value (the amount of heat garnered by burning) is low. Using Indian coal
means under utilisation of resources of the Power Generating stations so most of
the Electricity Generating companies use a mix of Imported high quality coal and
the Indian coal.

As for Petroleum / Crude Oil usage, although India has tried to position itself for a
more secure and assured supply of the same but this depends on the Global and
the local sentiments of the supply area. This is an area where India has always
found itself at a short end of the stick. In the 70's to the early 21 st Century, the OIC
pressurised the Indian Government to support the Palestinian movement and not
allow to have any diplomatic ties with Israel even when some of the members of
the very same organisation themselves were having cordial relationship with
Israel. India was literally arm-twisted by many Nations in the region on many
occassions and had to make compromises for maintaining the Oil supply.

Secondly, there has been a lot of strife in the region, may it be the Iran-Iraq war,
Annexation of land by ISIS ,the Spring revolution, Civil Wars in Syria and Yemen
and lately the Sanctions on Iran by the USA.This has always created a fluctuation
in the supply of Oil and consequently on the price of the Oil. Luckily we have been
able to garner supply from other sources like the USA but again this has been with
conditions. Ultimately the reliance on imported oil has seriously affected our
Economy and independence of our foreign policy.

Then there is the serious issue of pollution and the Global warming caused by it.
The nations which prospered by burning unlimited oil without regard to the
pollution damage are the very same who are now shouting from the rooftops to
curb pollution. In 2015-16, India's Capita Energy consumption was just 1075
Kwh/Year which is 1/3rd of the Global average and yet due to India's huge
population the total amount of Energy consumed is also humongous. A vast
number of Indian population is dependent on Agriculture, Fishing etc and Global
warming is certainly going to affect these sectors badly and so India has already
taken mitigative steps towards clean energy. It has put forward 8 Nationally
determined contributions (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and 3 of the NDC are
quantifiable. The NDCs are

1. Reduce the emissions intensity by 35% of its 2005 levels.

2. Have 40% of cumulative Electricity Generation by Non fossil fuesl.

3. To create additional Carbon sink of 2.5 Billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

Additionally the Government can decide to promote Electric vehicles which will
reduce the vehicular pollution and at the same time will help in advancing
technology for building Electric Cars and its Batteries etc.

By transferring the mode of Generation of Electricity to non fossil, India will have
multiple advantages. For Solar power generation India has been blessed with
abundant sunlight, Wind farms can be set up along the Hill ranges and Offshore in
the Sea. Nuclear plants can further add up the generating capacity as will the
Biomass plants and Coal Bed Methane plants on top of the Coal mines so that the
coal does not have to be transported.

Solar Power earlier was very expensive (USD 3 Million/MW) as a capital project
but the latest technology and the huge demand generated by the Government's
policy have driven the Prices down and now the project cost are comparable to a
Thermal Power plant cost of about 1 Million USD /MW. This will translate directly
into saving of Foreign exchange and also frees up our Foreign policy from being
dependent on any other Nation/Group of Nations.

Being Energy independent also will mean that progress of the nation shall be free
of hindrance from external factors.