Aparna Sawhney

Policy Monitor Renewable Energy Policy in India: Addressing Energy Poverty and Climate Mitigation

As part of its efforts to pursue a low-carbon growth path, India has made a commitment to increase the use of clean energy in electricity generation. This article examines the evolution of India’s renewable energy policy as a way to address the twin goals of reducing energy poverty and mitigating climate change. I review India’s regulatory reforms and policy instruments and compare them with those adopted in China in order to highlight the key policy features that have helped China emerge as a global leader in the renewable energy sector. India’s recent initiatives for clean energy under the National Action Plan on Climate Change, including promoting trade in renewable energy certificates across states in order to comply with renewable purchase obligations, reflect a more integrated approach to building an efficient renewable energy-based power sector. The current rapid expansion of the renewable power sector, especially solar energy, suggests that for the foreseeable future India will continue to be one of the world’s fastest growing renewable energy markets.

Rejuvenating SAARC: The Strategic Payoffs for India

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, SAARC, founded in 1985, has floundered since its inception due to the lack of a strong political will. This article evaluates the political-economic and strategic benefits of deeper integration in South Asia from the Indian perspective. The abysmally low level of integration witnessed so far in the region has been driven by a myriad of constraints that restrict economic interaction among the South Asian countries. Gains from regional integration can emerge only after these constraints are effectively addressed. The central argument of the article is that recent global developments and increasing openness of SAARC economies are moving the principal drivers of this process towards a more supportive stance for SAARC and this creates a new window of opportunity. This opportunity must be seized by India as it has taken on the chairmanship of the organization, because a successful SAARC directly contributes to Indias strategic objectives both in the region and also globally. In this context the article discusses ten reasons for India to rejuvenate integration efforts and revive regional cooperation in South Asia.

Development Policy Implications for Growth and Regional Inequality in a Small Open Economy: The Indian Case

Inclusive economic development has become a pressing goal of government policy in India in the face of rising regional inequality. This paper examines the role of targeted development policy action in inducing economic growth and also in reducing regional income inequality during the last two decades (since the beginning of the 1990s)—a period marked by increasing trade openness. In our disaggregated analysis of the states, we find that while the government capital expenditure policy has had significant positive impact on output growth of the poorer states, it failed to break the trend of escalating regional inequality. The policy has been significantly more effective in enhancing manufacturing sector output in the poorer states compared with the richer states. On the trade front, while the poorer states gained somewhat in income growth from greater openness, the gains were not large enough to offset the increasing regional disparity.

Greening Indian Businesses for the World Market

There has been a steady increase in environmental notifications under the provisions in the WTO Agreements as indicated by the recent WTO environmental database. This trend threatens to reduce market access and competitiveness of traditional exports from developing countries like India. The Indian businesses need to aggressively address the green challenge in the world market, and credibly signal the eco-sensitivity of their products in the market by increasing environmental certification. Other developing countries like China have been quick with proactive strategies on environmental certification to tap global opportunities in the sectors like organic food/beverage and eco-textiles. The rates of growth in ISO 14001 and IFOAM certified firms/farms in China have been phenomenal, and tin total number of such eco-certified Chinese firms/farms outstripped those in India in the last six years. Drawing from the literature on competitiveness and environmental regulations, and anecdotal evidence of actual firm experience, this paper puts forward the case that it is both essential and profitable for Indian businesses to increase environmental certifications to take advantage of the full potential of the opportunities in the world market.

Indian Perspective on Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency

This chapter presents an Indian perspective on low-carbon growth through increasing energy efficiency and renewable energy. The chapter begins by providing a snapshot of the energy sector in India, followed by a discussion on the state of the electricity sector, with focus on the move toward renewable sources in grid as well as off-grid power modes. The chapter critically reviews the opportunities for energy-efficiency improvement across all the different sectors of the Indian economy, including residential, transport and major energy-intensive industries. The chapter concludes by outlining some recent policy initiatives adopted in India to promote cleaner forms of energy in the electricity sector and energy efficiency measures.

Environmental Provisions in the WTO and Asian Developing Country Perspective

This paper analyses the impact of the SPS and TBT agreements on developing Asian countries with special reference to India. The implementation of these provisions has raised questions of economic protection versus environmental protection. Departure from harmonized international standards, and proliferation of eco-branding in the North, has resulted in market fragmentation for developing country exports. While consumer sovereignty/environmental risk preferences of different nations have to be respected, developing countries need to express their own environmental priorities. Only then would global diversity in environmental endowment and knowledge be accurately reflected in the multilateral trading system and help achieve sustainable development.