Availability, Accessibility, Affordability, and Acceptability – these form the conceptual framework for India’s energy security to support its economic growth and developmental goals. Modern world’s success parameters have primarily been economic, where energy consumption has become both a necessary condition as well as an outcome of it. India lacks capabilities to meet all its energy demand from domestic sources and it has sought to achieve its energy security through multiple partners like Indo-USA nuclear deal, Oil import from Middle East etc. Further, one can see a heightened focus on developing renewable and alternative sources of energy, particularly nuclear, solar and wind. Yet the bitter truth is that presently India is heavily dependent on imported oil.
India’s oil import bill for financial year 2021-22 has doubled against previous year, and it’s natural gas import bill have risen by 61%. It paid USD 82.4 billion for the crude oil in first three quarters,till December 2021, as opposed to around USD 39.6 billion for the same period year before,a jump of 108%. Russia-Ukraine conflict has been the primary reason for the surge in crude prices, which soared to a 14-year high of USD 140 a barrel on March 7, 2022. Amidst this, India has continued to import oil from Russia, and seems to be a target of negative campaign.
India gets bulk of its oil imported from middle east, around 8% from the USA, and in the past maybe less than 1% from Russia. “When the oil prices are high it is natural for countries to go out in the market and look for what are ‘good deals’ for their people,” said External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar. He added, “We have seen for sometime what looks like a campaign on this issue. I was reading a report. Europe has bought 15% of more oil and gas from Russia than it did a month before. If you look at the major buyers of oil and gas from Russia, I think you will find most of them are in Europe.” Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman has also hit back saying, “why shouldn’t we buy cheap oil from Russia. We need to take care of our national security.” She also said the decision of continuously buying discounted oil from Russia has been taken keeping India’s overall interest in mind, ‘If the fuel is available at a discount, why shouldn’t I buy it?’ Reaffirming India’s position on continuing trade with its all weather friend Russia, despite the western sanctions on it, Finance Minister said, we need to protect our own interest.
It is common knowledge that India’s fragile energy security is under severe strain due to its dependence on imported oil, where monopolies and opaqueness reign. The growth aspirations of this young nation has seen long term increase of energy demand, which has been around 3.6 % pa over the past 30 years, and is likely to grow faster. In this backdrop, the impact of simmering Russia-Ukraine crisis has rightly been summed up by EAM when he says, “I think the real problems are still to come certainly for our part of the world. The financial world is disrupted, the logistics world is disrupted & markets are in turmoil. All of this is going to have consequences on rest of the world.”
SHARE
