Both Russia and China, two of the world’s three leading super-powers, have enough gun power and electricity to boast. China, last year, surpassed the United States of America (USA), the No. 1 super-power, to emerge as the world’s largest energy guzzler. China is also the world’s largest coal producer, the most reliable source of thermal energy. Russia is a large exporter of hydrocarbon – petroleum and gas. It has the largest proven reserves of hydrocarbon, far ahead of Saudi Arabia, the USA, China, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Nigeria and Mexico. India, which aspires to be a powerful country in this century, has none – neither enough energy, nor adequate modern fire power – to boast about.

The top three super-powers – the USA, Russia and China – are among the world’s top manufacturers-exporters of arms and military equipment. On the contrary, India today is the world’s largest arms and military hardware importer. A champion of peaceful co-existence, India’s own defence manufacturing industry has been one the weakest links in its history of progress and development. Historically, the defence sector has always remained neglected. It is often linked with political corruption through successive national governments since the time of Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s first prime minister. India’s external security is heavily dependent on imported arms, ammunitions, equipment and spares. Internally, the issue of energy security poses a big challenge to the future success of India’s over-hyped growth story. India is constantly scouting for energy and defence products imports. Nearly 80 per cent of India’s hydrocarbon needs are met through imports.

More than defence arsenal, the shortage of energy is a bigger concern before the nation. India’s electric power mix heavily leans on coal-based thermal power, accounting for almost 65 per cent of total availability. Gas-based thermal power and diesel generation together make up for around 10 per cent, hydro-electric power provides for about another 15 per cent. And, the rest come from nuclear power, solar and wind energy, bio-gas, bio-diesel, geo-thermal and other non-conventional sources. Although there exists a tremendous opportunity for India to tap its vast sources of non-conventional energy, the country has been extremely slow to utilize it to the full extent to raise its share to 30 per cent or so. One reason is the initial high investment cost per megawatt. Others include small-size units, low generation capacity of each of the units and the country’s easy-going attitude. The investment cost for nuclear power is much more expensive. But, it is preferred to non-conventional energy for its bulk generation capacity, which can be easily transmitted to a large number of consumers through linkage with the national grid.

Coal-based thermal-power is the most preferred one despite shortage of domestic availability of coal and its concentration mostly in the eastern part of the country. Small quantities of lignite coal are available in the southern and north-western parts. Here again, pit-head power plants would have been most ideal and cost effective. But, politics has the better off economics since every state wants to have its own power generation facility. Many states import ship loads of thermal coal travelling long distance at huge transportation cost to keep their power plants generating. Power shortages persist. Generation costs zoom. Electricity consumption reaches its peak during the long summer months when the domestic coal production is most erratic because of rains, absenteeism among miners, shortage of wagons and transportation bottleneck.

There is no urgency on the part of the government to develop new mines and to use latest technology to save wastage of coal in the seams. The environment ministry does not want new coal mines. Maoists are also opposed to it. As a result, some politicians and the coal mafia are having a field day at the cost of the nation. It is a ‘Catch-22’ situation. This is despite the fact that Coal India, the country’s largest coal producer, has been making a massive afforestation effort around coal mines areas and offering best rehabilitation package to tribal population in the coal belt. A visit from the Bilaspur railway station in Chhattisgarh to Chirimiri coal mines will bear testimony of the massive artificial forestry created by Coal India. The union environment ministry does not seem to be impressed.

Meanwhile, this summer, severe coal shortage threatens to disturb electricity generation in one-third of the country’s 85 coal-based thermal power plants. The Central Electricity Authority is extremely concerned. So is the entire nation. Nearly a dozen of these power plants don’t have coal stocks to last beyond three-four days. They are literally hand-to-mouth. Another 15 power plants have coal stocks that could see their boilers burning just for a week. These coal-starved power plants account for almost 30 per cent of the country’s thermal generation of some 82,400 mw. The most coal-starved power plants are: National Thermal Power Corporation’s (NTPC) Kahalgaon station, Damodar Valley Corporation’s (DVC) Mejia and Chandrapura plants. Kahalgaon’s generation capacity is 2,340 mw, the same as DVC’s Mejia. Chandrapura’s capacity is 890 mw. NTPC, India’s largest electricity generator, and DVC are both central public sector undertakings. Taking advantage of the shortage situation, Coal India has started ‘spot sale’ of coal to consumers at a very high premium.

Yet, the government is rather unconcerned. In any other country, it would have called for an emergency cabinet meeting to deal with a situation as this. Even the media underplays these issues which affects the industry and the common man. Per capita energy consumption in India is among the lowest in the world. Not many of the country’s 7,30,000 villages have electricity. Even those small numbers which are connected, it only acts as a show-piece more for statistical record than its utility value. Rampant and prolonged periods of power cuts and extremely low voltage make power supplies in rural areas almost useless. The country’s peak period power shortage in the late morning and early evening periods is estimated at a whopping 10,000-15,000mw. The eight to nine per cent annual economic (GDP) growth rate had little impact on the supply deficit in the electricity front. Certainly, the administration is not losing any sleep over a grave situation as this. At least, there is no sign of any genuine concern about it on the part of the government.

India’s emergence as an economic power of any consequence without enough electricity is at best a wistful thought. At the current rate of generation, electricity is going to be an even scarcer commodity in India if it has to meet up with the additional demand of the country’s growing population, which is projected to explode to 1.63 billion by 2050 making it the world’s most populous country, well ahead of China. ‘Population control’ is a pair of dirty words in India ever since the late Sanjay Gandhi, the younger of the two sons of Mrs Indira Gandhi, tried hard to implement it during 1975-77 and was condemned. One of the reasons behind the Congress party’s huge defeat in the 1977 national elections was Sanjay Gandhi’s sterilization drive called nashbandi against married men and women having more than two children. The population explosion may cause further shortage of electricity.

The official think-tank at the planning commission and the departments of coal, power, petroleum and gas, atomic energy, non-conventional energy and environment must urgently sit together under the chairmanship of no other than the prime minister himself to address the burning issue of nagging electricity shortage in the country by devising and implementing a time-bound programme. Energy security should receive a top priority along with food security and financial stability in the government’s scheme of things, if the country aspires to be a key player in the committee of nations at some point of time, if not soon. (IPA Service)