Energy Security in India

Energy is pivotal for given objectives, and such ambitious target achievement will push energy consumption many folds. Energy security is, doubtless, a key priority of the foreign policy of India, as the national reserves of energy commodities are scarce. The growing energy needs of India essentially define and will define the nature of its relations with other countries, as India is actively using foreign policy to conduct its energy policy. Multi-dimensional aspect of energy makes it a matter of national security.

• Major challenges for energy security in India include the failure to attract international investment in domestic hydrocarbon exploration and coal mining suffers from delays due to regulatory and environmental clearances.
• Energy security in India is important for both in the electricity sector as well as transportation sector. The government has come out with the energy policy, in which it talks about increasing the share of renewable in generation of electricity, and at the same time it also talks about increasing the domestic production of coal in the country. To increase transparency, the Supreme Court cancelled the coal mining auctions around 2009, such that participation of honest bidders can be seen.
• With the initiatives like electricity to every household by 2022 and Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana and others government is trying to meet the demand of electricity at the mission mode. In renewable energy share, India has come out with intended nationally determined contributions in the Conference of Parties (CoP) in Paris. It has increased the production of renewable energy to 175GW by 2022. It has also pledged to increase the electric vehicles by 2030.