Energy and Environment in India by Johannes Urpelainen

Author:Johannes Urpelainen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Columbia University Press

Indeed, to speak of climate policy as an independent orientation is somewhat misleading in India. As Atteridge et al. note, “At each level of decision making in India, climate policy is embedded in wider policy concerns.”33 The central government is concerned about international image, the carbon budget, energy security, cost of energy, and economic development. State governments have less interest in international affairs or carbon budgets, but they are very sensitive to the local concerns of energy security, cost of energy, and economic development. Local governments have even more parochial interests, but similar to other levels of government, they use available opportunities to boost their image as climate leaders, as long as it is not expensive for them.

Similarly, Wu argues that India’s climate policy can be understood as a combination of proactive energy security and economic development measures, such as renewable energy development, and shallow reactive measures aimed at mitigating international pressure at a low cost.34 India has reduced emissions—or, at the very least, constrained their growth—where doing so has served more valued domestic priorities, notably energy security and energy for development. But where climate policy would compromise energy security and/or carry a high cost, such as reducing domestic coal use by using imported natural gas, Indian policy makers have not taken action.

The rapid expansion of renewable energy is a good example of this tendency. As noted, India’s renewable energy journey got a major boost when the state of Gujarat began formulating supportive policies for grid-scale solar installations. These policies were motivated more by industrial and energy security concerns than by environmental issues. Similarly, when the central government in Delhi began to promote renewable energy with a variety of support mechanisms, ranging from solar parks to auctions, it did so to exploit falling costs and improve the country’s power generation capacity. Renewable energy was a solution to a number of problems, of which climate change was not primary in the Indian policymaker’s view.35 But when renewable energy created a window of opportunity to craft an image of climate leadership, the media-savvy Modi government did not fail to use it on the global arena and in domestic politics.

India’s renewable energy boom has not, however, led the Indian government to declare the end of coal. In India, a rapid growth of renewable power generation goes together with a steadfast commitment to the continued exploitation of domestic coal resources, as Indian energy policies do not aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or reduce reliance on fossil fuels. To the contrary, the government foresees growth in both coal-fired power generation and, crucially for energy security, domestic production of coal.

Curiously, this structural dependence on coal is partly driven by the various taxes and fees on coal.36 State governments in eastern India are heavily dependent on coal royalties and other revenue for their budgets. Domestic coal is subject to a 14.5 percent royalty, a 5 percent Goods and Services Tax, and contributions to mineral development funds. There is also a fee for both domestic and imported coal.

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