THE BREN SCHOOL OF Environmental Science & Management
at the University of California, Santa Barbara

Presents

"High Economic Growth, Equity, and Sustainable Energy Development of India"

Abstract

While India has been experiencing sustained high economic growth in the recent years, an unacceptable amount of poverty still affects the nation’s people. The symptoms of such poverty include inadequate education and health, and lack of access to such basic amenities as modern, clean energy, safe water, and sanitation, all crucial elements in developing human capability.

The recently initiated eleventh five-year plan for India takes the approach of generating inclusive faster growth to develop the Indian economy. This paper analyzes the implications high inclusive growth has for removing poverty and inequity with respect to the twin challenges of developing environmentally sustainable energy use while eliminating energy poverty. In that context, the paper focuses on the role of efficiency in the supply and use of energy, in choices of fuels, and in technology as it contributes to the environmental sustainability of energy relative to economic growth.

The paper reviews the past trends and patterns of energy use in India and the nation’s projected future energy needs and supply, with special reference to equity and environmental sustainability. In that context, it analyzes the efficiency of energy use to examine if economic reforms could contribute to delinking economic growth and energy-related CO2 emissions, and whether the future projections indicate any significant movement in that direction. Finally, the paper discusses selected policy issues relating to energy security and environmental sustainability, taking into account the macroeconomic viability of India’s energy-sector development.

Please note: The complete paper can be downloaded as a PDF file by visiting this Kobe University web page and scrolling down to paper No. 213.

Also: The Powerpoint of Dr. Sengupta's presentation, which covers in more detail two points mentioned in the paper, is available here.

Biography

Ramprasad Sengupta has spent the past 32 years as a professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary research. He also serves as the Independent Director on the Board of Directors of the Steel Authority of India. He was formerly an advisor in energy modeling for the federal government’s Indian Planning Commission. He was also a professor at the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta and has been a visiting professor or scholar at universities in Japan, Germany, and the Netherlands, as well as at the University of Pennsylvania and Boston University.

Dr. Sengupta’s research interests lie primarily in energy, resource, and environmental economics. Areas of focus within those fields include development economics and planning, the economics of the infrastructure and steel sectors, and mathematical policy modeling for the energy, steel, and infrastructure sectors.

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