India needs faster energy reforms, tough decisions to reduce dependence on imported fuel: Neelkanth Mishra
New Delhi, June 7
India needs to move faster on energy reforms and take tougher policy decisions if it wants to reduce its dependence on imported energy, newly appointed World Bank Executive Director Neelkanth Mishra said.
Speaking to ANI in an interview, Mishra said India remains vulnerable to imported oil and gas, but argued that the country has enough domestic resources to strengthen its long-term energy security.
"The fact that we are deeply vulnerable to imported energy currently is obviously a problem," Mishra said.
At the same time, he stressed that India has the ability to reduce that vulnerability over time.
"In the current mix, it is definitely not under control. But can it be under control? 100 per cent," he said.
Highlighting India's energy resources, Mishra said, "You have so much sunlight, wind, hydro, and coal."
Drawing a comparison with China, he said the rapid adoption of electric vehicles there had reduced the country's oil dependence.
"Just the electric vehicles in that economy, the proliferation has meant that their oil imports have fallen by 1 million barrels a day," he said.
Mishra, however, argued that India has been slow in taking necessary policy decisions in the energy sector.
"The point I'm making is that we are refusing to make the hard decisions," he said.
According to him, India needs to rethink how energy is priced and distributed across sectors.
"We have the cheapest household electricity prices in the world. We give free power to farmers," Mishra said.
Questioning the burden on industry, he added, "Can you believe that 18 to 20 per cent of power goes to farmers for free and who pays for it? Industry."
Mishra said policymakers need to consider whether subsidies are the best way to support people.
"We have to ask ourselves as an economy a question: Is it better to give cheap and free power to people or give them jobs so that they can pay for it themselves?" he said.
He also said high electricity costs for businesses can discourage investment.
"If your industrial power is costing 6 rupees and 8 rupees a kilowatt hour, if your commercial power is like 10, 12, 15 rupees a kilowatt hour, why would anyone invest?" Mishra said.
Calling for faster electrification, he said, "The guys who can actually drive electrification need to get the right price of energy now."
Despite concerns over India's dependence on imported fuel, Mishra said the country has more options today than it did two decades ago.
"I'm not saying that we are currently not vulnerable. We are vulnerable. But this whole approach, we don't have oil, we don't have gas, and we are stuck. That is not correct," he said.
"That may have been correct 20 years back," he added.
Mishra said India must make use of alternatives already available to it.
"We have options. We have not explored them. We are not taking the tough decisions," he said.
Later in the interview, while discussing the next phase of economic reforms, Mishra again highlighted the need for urgent action in the energy sector.
"We definitely need to do a lot on the energy price reform, a lot more and do it really fast," he said.
— ANI
Reader Comments
The China comparison is interesting but misleading. They have massive manufacturing scale that we don't. We need to build the entire ecosystem for renewables and EVs from scratch. Still, better late than never. Hope the government listens to experts like Mishra.
"Give them jobs so they can pay" - that's the key line. But our industrial power costs are killing MSMEs! I run a small factory and 60% of my electricity bill goes to cross-subsidizing farmers. Something's got to give.
Free power to farmers has done more damage than good - depleted groundwater, fiscal deficit, and now we're paying through high industrial tariffs. Time for targeted subsidies or direct cash transfers instead of freebies.
True that we have options like solar and wind, but who will invest when DISCOMs are bankrupt and payment delays are routine? Policy reforms need to fix the entire value chain, not just talk about pricing.
I agree with Mishra on the need for faster reforms, but we must remember energy access is still a challenge for many rural households. Can't just increase prices without ensuring reliable supply. Balacing act required.
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