Despite some achievements, India has missed out on most of the goals, for the energy sector, defined under the Three Year Action Agenda (2017-2018 to 2019-2020) charted by the NITI Aayog.

The achievements can be seen on the energy efficiency and fuel quality front, but there are failures on the domestic coal and crude oil production front, in setting up of refineries and crude oil storage facilities among others. India’s per capita electricity consumption also lags far behind (still at one-third of the global average) despite the action agenda calling for bridging this gap.

This Three Year Action Agenda recommended policy changes and programmes for action from 2017-2018 to 2019-2020, the last three years of the Fourteenth Finance Commission. According to the NITI Aayog, the document offered ambitious proposals for policy changes within a relatively short period.

“It is understood that while some may be fully implemented during the three-year period, implementation of others would continue into the subsequent years,” the agenda document said.

According to the agenda document, per capita electricity consumption in India stood at 1,010 kWh (for 2014-2015) against the world average of 3,200 kWh. There is considerable scope for growth in energy consumption in India. There are four major end users of energy: households, businesses, transportation and agriculture.

But, by the end of 2018-19, India’s per capital electricity consumption had risen modestly to 1181 Kwh, still at a third of the global average.

The document also said that by 2019, India should sustain its export capacity of refined products by setting up new refineries. “The PSUs may start construction work on new refineries of 60 million metric tonnes per annum (mtpa) capacity. Also, the refineries should upgrade their processing capacity to meet petroleum fuel quality standards of BS-VI.”

As fiscal 2019-20 comes to a close, the domestic oil refiners are confident of a nationwide roll out of BS-VI grade fuel. But the work on a 60-mtpa refinery project in West Coast is yet to begin. While some contractual agreements have been forged, the project has been bogged down on the land issue.

“By 2019-20, we must set up strategic-cum-commercial oil reserves up to 90 days of consumption through public and private investment,” the agenda document proposed.

But, this also remains to be achieved with the present 5.33 million tonne of strategic oil reserves being able to meet barely two weeks’ crude oil demand.

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