India faces significant challenges with poverty, access to energy, and a growing energy demand. Over 1/3 of Indians live below $1.25 per day and over 30% of households lack electricity access. India's energy demand is projected to grow substantially by 2047 across sectors like industry, transport, and agriculture under different scenarios. Current energy supply relies heavily on domestic coal and will need to transition to less emissions-intensive sources like natural gas, renewables, and nuclear to meet demand sustainably. National policies have aimed to boost renewables through incentives and tariffs but barriers like financing, grid limitations, and governance capacity remain. Strengthening the grid and rationalizing subsidies and tariffs are needed to support India's low

1. Prospects of a low carbon
energy transition
India: A case study

4. Poverty
• 1/3rd of people living at less than $ 1.25 a day,
live in India
• Planning Commission’s headcount is 354.7 mn
• IMR is 44 per 1000 population
• Institutional delivery is 40.8% per 1000
• 78.9% children are anaemic
• Over 40% children are stunted/underweight

5. Middle Class
• Global middle class defined as earning
between $10 - $50 per day
• Only 5% or 70 million Indians in this class
• Only 0.06% rural and 0.23% urban Indians
have incomes of more than $50 per day
• The poverty burden is thus 95%!!

6. Energy Access
• 32.7% Hh have no access to electricity
• 70% Hh rely on traditional biomass for cooking
• 65% PHCs are not electrified
• 53% govt schools are unelectrified

7. 46%
25%
17%
5%
5%
2%
FIndian Energy Demand (2012):
Sectoral Shares
Industry
Cooking
Transport
Lighting and
Applicances
Agriculture
Telecom

8. 31%
24%
18%
8%
6%
6%
2% 2%1% 1%
1%
0%
India Energy Supply (2012): Sectoral Shares
Domestic Coal
Non-commercial energy
Petroloeum imports
Coal imports
Domestic Natural gas
Domestic Crude oil
LNG imports
Domestic Hydro power
Domestic Lignite
Nuclear power
Renewable Energy
Hydro power imports

9. 0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
Agriculture Lighting and
appliances
Cooking Industry Transport
Energy Demand Scenarios: Planning Commission (TWh/yr)
2012 (Baseline energy
demand)
2047 (Least effort
scenario)
2047 (Maximum
energy security (heroic
effort in demand
management))
2047 (Minimum
emissions pathway)

10. 0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
Natural gas Oil Coal Others
(including
renewables and
bioenergy)
Energy supply scenarios: Planning Commission
(TWh/yr)
2012 (Baseline
energy supply)
2047 (Least effort
scenario)
2047 (Maximum
energy security
(heroic effort in
demand
management))
2047 (Minimum
emissions pathway)

11. 53%
32%
11%
1%
2%
0%
1%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
58%
26%
7%
5%
1%
1%
1%
0%
0%
0%
0%
1%
4%
3%
3%
0%
4%
43%
18%
1%
0%
0%
0%
23%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Coal
Oil
Natural
gas
Nuclear
Hydro
Solar
Wind
Biomass-based
power
Waste-to-energy
Geothermal
Tidal
Biofuel
for
transportation
Energy Supply Scenarios (Percentages): WWF-TERI
2011 Baseline
2051 Reference
Scenario
2051 Alternate
Scenario

12. Synopsis of policy measures for
Renewables
• National Solar Mission and National Mission
on Enhanced Energy Efficiency
• Renewable purchase obligations coupled with
renewable energy certificates
• Generation based incentives and feed-in
tariffs
• Long term purchase agreements

13. Barriers for renewables
• Sub-optimal financial leveraging/lack of public
financing
• Grid limitations
• Social and environmental tradeoffs for some
technologies
• Governance capacity

14. Additional policy initiatives needed
• Rationalise tariffs/eliminate energy losses
• Rationalise subsidies
• Grid strengthening
• Initiate policy measures to promote off-grid
electricity access solutions