India's Energy Data: The Urgent Need to Move from Patchwork Systems to a National Energy Information Agency

Abstract

We propose that India should create a national Energy Information Agency – an Indian EIA or “indEIA.” India urgently needs a dedicated, central agency to collect, collate, disseminate, and facilitate the analysis of all essential energy-related data. There are a number of government support programs, for everything from renewable energy to electricity access, in the billions of dollars. Their efficacy is rarely understood, in part because of data limitations. An entity like indEIA will be critical in helping India leverage the creative powers of the national and international research community to provide reliable, cost-effective, and clean energy to its citizens. In addition, granular data can enable the industry as well as policymakers to move towards more customized, dynamic, and nimble solutions, instead of relying on averaged, aggregated, and nongranular time-series or spatial data. Thus our proposal envisions indEIA as the primary vehicle for curating and maintaining India’s energy data, a vital national (and global) asset.