Energy security calls for robust central planning

The government has taken measures to overcome India's gas shortage even as the need to plug gaps in long-range energy planning glares at us. The role of the state would need to heighten

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(STOCKPHOTO)

The nationwide shortage of cooking gas over the past week should abate soon, given that import supplies are on their way to Indian shores even as domestic refiners have been asked to bump up production.

The crippling shortage of this item of mass consumption that has proven to be the Achilles heel of our energy security calculus partly owes its origin to well-intentioned policy efforts to shift households from kerosene to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), a cleaner fuel. While only half of India's population had access to LPG in 2010, its coverage is nearly complete today. Our import dependency in meeting this demand, which now stands at around 60%, has risen not just because Indian production has not kept up, but also on account of an inherent technical limitation.