Did you know that in Energy Sector:

1. India, home to 18% of the world’s population (1.3 billion), uses only 6% of the world’s primary energy.
2. In India, around 240 million people have no access to electricity.
3. Putting manufacturing at the heart of India’s growth model means a large rise in the energy needed to fuel India’s development.
4. Energy consumption per capita is still only around one-third of the global average.
5. Coal remains the backbone of the Indian power sector, accounting for over 70% of generation.
6. Three-quarters of Indian energy demand is met by fossil fuels, it is rising!
7. India was the world’s third-largest importer of crude oil in 2014, but is also a major exporter of oil products, thanks to a large refining sector.
8. India has 45 GW of hydropower and 23 GW of wind power capacity, but has barely tapped its huge potentials for the renewable energy.
9. The country’s electricity demand in 2013 was 897 terawatt-hours (TWh), up from 376 TWh in 2000, having risen over this period at an average annual rate of 6.9%.
10. Annual residential electricity consumption per capita in India (for those with access) – India average in 2013 was 200 kWh.
11. On the supply side, India has some 290 gigawatts5 (GW) of power generation capacity, of which coal (60%) makes up by far the largest share, followed by hydropower (15%) and natural gas (8%).
12. Primary energy demand in India by fuel is: 44% (Coal); 23% (Oil); 24% (Bio mass); 6% (Natural Gas), (1% nuclear) and 2% other renewables.
13. Oil consumption in 2014 stood at 3.8 million barrels per day (mb/d), 40% of which is used in the transportation sector. Over 90% of energy demand in the transport sector in India is from road transport.
14. India has relatively modest oil resources and most of the proven reserves (around 5.7 billion barrels) are located in the western part of the country, notably in Rajasthan and in offshore areas near Gujarat and Maharashtra.
15. Wind power has made the fastest progress and provides the largest share of modern non-hydro renewable energy in power generation to date. India has the fifth-largest amount of installed wind power capacity in the world.
16. Solar power has played only a limited role in power generation thus far, with installed capacity reaching 3.7 GW in 2014. The target for wind power was dramatically upgraded in 2014 to 100 GW of solar installations by 2022,
17. Nuclear power played a very limited role (1%) in the power sector. India has twenty-one operating nuclear reactors at seven sites, with a total installed capacity close to 6 GW. Another six nuclear power plants are under construction, which will add around 4 GW to the total. The average plant load factor rose to over 80% in 2013 from 40% in 2008.
18. India has 13 of the world’s 20 most-polluted cities and an estimated 660 million people in areas in which the government’s own national air quality standards are not met. (Extracted from International Energy Agency's Special report 2015) 

Non-proliferation Treaty and India-Japan nuclear deal

Non-proliferation treaty (NPT) of nuclear weapons is an international treaty entered into force in 1970. The main objective of the Treaty is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and technology, and to promote peaceful uses of nuclear energy. A total of 191 states have joined the Treaty and four stats, viz., India, Pakistan, Israel and South Sudan never joined the Treaty. The Treaty recognizes only 5 states as nuclear-weapon states. They are US, Russia, UK, France and China. 

Japan is the only country which suffered attacks by nuclear weapons and is very particular that the treaty is respected by all the countries. India is not a signatory to the NPT and wants to strike a nuclear deal with Japan.

During the negotiations, Japan is putting forward conditions such as: tracking of the nuclear fuel, accounting and tight management of plutonium generated by reprocessing the spent fuel and clauses in the India’s Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLND)-2010.

The clause of Part liability of nuclear plant manufacturers in the event of nuclear accidents in a matter another concern for Japan. Management of nuclear accidents and mitigation measures are very highly cost-intensive and even though the government is planning special insurance to cover the huge expenditure involved, are the insurance companies are able to cope up with the claims? Finally, will Japan will do nuclear business with India which is now a nuclear-armed country and not a signatory to NPT?