India’s Energy Security

Abstract

The story of India’s search for energy security may be summarized as: a late start, lots of catching up to do. India’s planners have realized that rapid economic growth, which has begun to be taken for granted by the public, depends on the availability of energy. Coupled with the single-minded and successful efforts of the other big emerging nation, China, in locking up energy supplies, the realization dawned that India needed to redouble its own efforts. The result has been a number of efforts to tie up supplier relationships around the globe in a variety of areas: oil, natural gas, nuclear, and also hydro-electric power from neighbors. Unfortunately, these efforts have not been as successful as China’s efforts.In the medium term, it still appears as though India is going to be dependent on external sources of supply of hydrocarbons for its energy needs.There is perhaps a lack of strategic intent. There is no clearly-articulated idea that energy is something that Indian fully intends to capture, whatever the cost. Therefore, India’s energy security does not look very assured, and the Chinese are considerably more successful in their quest for energy. If there are no major oil and gas finds in Indian territorial waters, India may be forced down a perilous path that includes a massive increase in the use of coal – with the attendant environmental issues – as well as increasing dependence on nuclear power. On the other hand, if there are some technological breakthroughs in alternative energy, India may be rescued from its predicament.