governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
India, like the rest of the world, is not yet visibly on the freeway to net zero. Greta Thunberg and others of her persuasion believe this is because young people—future victims of climate change—are not in charge. This could well be true. But consider the recklessly fast-forwarded track for Artificial Intelligence (AI), Fintech, or social […]
Read More On the Freeway to net zeroThere is a 93 percent probability that at least one year between 2022-2026 will dislodge 2016 as the warmest year. More worryingly, the probability of a temporary increase in temperature more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels (1850-1900) which was zero in 2015, has now increased to 48 percent. The warning bell is ringing, and it […]
Read More Energy Transition Under fiscal and Institutional stressThe late Atal Behari Vajpayee (Prime Minister of India in 1996 and 1998–2004) had a keen ear for technology. After listening patiently to complicated, technologically correct proposals, he could bring such high-level discussions down to earth by wondering how these “best in class” options could actually be implemented on the ground. Best in class options […]
Read More Decarbonization: Institutionally adriftIndia is sparingly built. Satellite mapping of urban areas globally shows an average urban built-up area of 170 cubic meters per capita, with significant variation–600 cubic meters in the US versus 20 cubic meters in Bangladesh. The average for the Global South is 108 cubic meters, one-third of the average of 300 cubic meters in […]
Read More Plucking Carbon out of Built StructuresEcologists and environmental economists’ scorn how superficially countries maintain their financial and national accounts. Amounts spent on building human skills, providing education, nutrition, safeguarding health, land, air and water quality or forests are classified as consumption expenditure in the national accounts, except for the associated construction and equipment purchased. Budgetary allocations in India for such […]
Read More Valuing Our Common FutureThe import of cheetahs from Namibia to diversify the fauna in our national parks, seven decades after it became extinct in India in 1952, is a tiny reminder of the many benefits of linking ever closer with Africa- the last frontier of abundant natural resources with the highest potential for future growth. Importing diversity This […]
Read More The cheetah returns: Rewilding IndiaPrime Minister Narendra Modi advocated India becoming a developed nation by 2047, as the new national aspiration, on Independence Day this year. This brings to the fore the chicken and egg question – is the relationship between development and becoming rich sequential, does one lead to the other, and if so, which one comes first? […]
Read More Can India become developed before it becomes rich?For all the brouhaha around the hydrogen economy at Davos and the competition amongst the Indian ministries to garner a piece of the regulatory action around this future energy business, it is hard to find any authentic, consistent information on the state of play in green hydrogen (GH) from government websites of the concerned ministries. […]
Read More Green Hydrogen -Pie in the sky or Game changerCarbon free hydrogen, a fuel, a carrier, and a store of energy, is topmost in the global green agenda. It is a substitute for today’s transition fuel—natural gas—which, whilst being cleaner than coal, diesel, or heavy fuel oil, is nevertheless incapable of delivering the sharp reductions envisaged in carbon intensity to limit global warming to […]
Read More Green Hydrogen Policy – Tentative BeginningsA fiscal deficit of 6.4 per cent of GDP on top of a revised fiscal deficit of 6.9 per cent of GDP in the current year and 9.5 per cent the year before is a strong endorsement of what finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Union Budget speech on February 1, called “the need to nurture growth […]
Read More Budet FY 2023- Good intentions but short on specifics
Opinion India 