Let there be light

Energy will continue to be our Achilles heel unless we take steps to produce and conserve power

Suresh Prabhu

Six decades ago Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru talked of his tryst with destiny while announcing India's Independence from a century-and-half of British rule. Then, we had all dreamed of an India different from the one we live in today. These days we share another dream: of becoming an economic superpower. This desire is fuelled by our recent growth numbers and fanned by a recent reports from global firms. They have prophesied that India will be the world's third largest economy in the not too distant future.

Indian has suddenly transformed from being a nation harbouring the world's highest number of poor people - over 300 million people here earn less than one dollar a day - to one having a promising future. Incidentally, the population of our poor people is equivalent to that of America's population. While certainly feasible, these projections could well be tripped by just one shock: power shortage.

Today we have a basic energy shortage close to 10 per cent and a peak level unmet demand that is almost double this figure. Over 45 per cent of our households don't have an electricity connection. The remaining fortunate ones get electricity supply for anywhere between three to 15 hours depending on which rural or semi-urban area they live in. Metros like Mumbai are like islands - enjoying a much better supply.

All those who get power supply would like to have more electricity. And due to paucity of supply, they don't use as much as they would like to. This means there is a huge suppressed demand, more than what is recorded. So the actual power shortage is much more than what the official figures suggest. Failure of the powers-that-be to provide electricity can spark off great social unrest.

More economic growth means acceleration in manufacturing, services, and hopefully, agricultural activities. However, none of these sectors can grow without an assured supply of good quality electricity. So, the Indian economy can grow only if the country generates adequate energy to fuel growth in these vital sectors.

We need water for drinking and agricultural purposes. Most of our demand for water is met by groundwater resources. Industry and commercial undertakings also use groundwater in large volumes. Over-exploitation of groundwater aquifers have resulted in depletion of this vital source of water.

Result? Today we cannot extract groundwater without the use of electricity. Almost 80 per cent of our incremental irrigation is through groundwater that needs power to be pumped out. Potable water in many major cities like Delhi comes from under the ground and requires power.

We are aiming to be a superpower when we do not have even the basic requisite for nursing such a mighty dream: electricity. Shouldn't we learn a lesson from our neighbour, China? This nation was poorer than us less than three decades ago. Adding a huge power-generating capacity was amongst the many things China did to become the economic superpower that it is today.

This step proved to be a launching pad for its economic growth. China, consequently, became the world's workshop with 52 per cent of its GDP coming from manufacturing as against only 23 per cent in India. Today, China is a $3 trillion economy while India has barely touched the $1 trillion mark.

The power sector should be India's number one priority. We must add capacity but must also be conscious of the importance of clean electricity. We all face the same adverse effects of climate change (CC). If we generate Green House Gases (GHG) while generating electricity, then our lives will be more vulnerable to risks associated with climate change. Power augmentation is necessary for quality of life. Hence we must focus on clean and renewable energy.

In India we have good sunlight 300 days of the year in almost all parts of the country. We have powerful wind velocity adequate for electricity generation in many regions. We can use ocean tides to generate power on our vast east and west coasts. Geological formations provide us yet another opportunity - for geo-thermal electricity. Our agriculture and animal waste can be another rich resource for power.

Thus we possess solar, wind, tidal, oceanic, geo-thermal and biomass resources for generating renewable energy which will not emit GHGs and as such will not cause harm to the climate. This will make us less dependent on oil.

Use of renewable resources could also foster a new revolution in rural India, as locally generated power can be distributed locally, using distributed generation as a model. This will also address our chronic problem of electricity theft, which now accounts for almost Rs30,000 crore annually. Locally owned and operated entities could reduce and eventually eliminate power pilferage. Use of coal will be inevitable for a long time, but clean coal technologies must be put to use.

We also must focus on energy saving, demand-side management (DSM), and conservation. All this can take care of 30 per cent of our energy needs. While it is imperative to add more capacity, it would be a pointless exercise to keep adding capacity and putting it into a bottomless pit, without addressing thefts, transmission and distribution losses.

We also need to address the issue of cost of power. In Maharashtra, Enron's electricity was available but could not be bought by MSEB as it was too expensive. Affordability is therefore an important factor. Our farmers need reasonably priced but assured power. So we will have to invest in R&D for renewable power to bring costs down. Imported fuels will never make our electricity cost-effective. A home-grown developed technology would mean we could harness our huge renewable potential without being dependent on others.

Sixty years ago all our leaders wanted only one power: political, and all worked with unity to achieve that goal. Now, the need of the hour is to create leaders who share a dream of creating a superpower through clean, affordable, reliable and accessible electricity. The teeming millions of our nation are eagerly looking forward to shedding the shackles of darkness and move into the light.

Suresh Prabhu was former Union Minister of Power, Heavy Industry & Public Enterprise.