EPI-MB15

EPI-MB15
MBA-BM 2015-17: Term-V

ENERGY POLICY IN INDIA
Subhomoy Bhattacharjee

Credits3
Faculty NameSubhomoy Bhattacharjee
ProgramMBA
Academic Year and Term

1. Course Description

The course is built around the experience of India since Independence in the field of energy policy. It will show how Indian public policy on energy was a blank space for a long time post independence which resulted in successive problems in other sectors with vast implications for the national economy; how the void was first recognized in the 1980s and has been now transformed into a robust understanding of the role of energy security as a subset of a global geo-political race for economic and military supremacy. It will compare the contrasting Indian experience with that of developed countries in the last century. Among other things the course will include a study of the process of allocation of natural resources in India over the past few decades, the consequent change in the nature of relationships with the business groups over this period and the points of tension and resolution of those including those which have emerged with civil society. The common strand of the course will be a rigorous evaluation of coal economics in particular. The content will be delivered through case studies.

Course Content

The aim of the course is to build upon the understanding that students of public policy will have already acquired from the conceptual frameworks they would have studied in their basic course work. Those would have included frameworks for analyzing the environment of public policy and policy research.

The case studies will examine one\two key energy crisis episode of India from each decade to context the Indian public policy on energy in the global quest for oil and gas since the early 20th century. It will examine how each of them emerged with reference to the global context, the positions taken by the political executive, the support or otherwise extended by the bureaucracy, the role played by the business interests, the role played by civil society and the consequent fractures in evolving consensus. It will study the final outcome that was delivered each time in terms of its ability to reduce the risk, reduce social tensions and deliver growth for the economy. It will then contrast these episodic treatments with how the developed countries assessed the role of energy security in their political and global roles. It will then study how this pattern of treatment by India has had to be abandonedwith the new paradigm of changing energy needs for the world including that of environmental concerns with reference to its emerging conflict with China and more generally how these pressures are building up in Asia. This will include an understanding of the new alignment of the business—government role in the new century in Indian energy economy—the quest for energy security abroad—the changing dynamics of India’s involvement with the nations around Indian Ocean—the economic and military consequences of those changes and a look ahead.

2.Student Learning Outcomes

· context the developing Indian public policy on energy in the global quest for oil and gas since the early 20th century
· will seek to make them aware of how choices in public policy has to change to accommodate the role of expanding stakeholders
· appreciate the key and quite different role that Indian bureaucracy plays in contrast with any major economy at various levels of governance and the consequent tensions it creates in the formulation of public policy in India
· understand how this interplay has travelled through key institutions including the older ones and those set up often to neutralize them in various sectors—helps students to develop a holistic understanding of these bodies that have overriding role in any part of the Indian economy
· appreciate how Indian business plays its role vis a vis the government especially in the current state of Indian energy economy
· be able to connect the economics of the new multinational corporations from India and China and their role play with the state within the country and abroad

3. Required Text Book and Reading Material

The Prize—Daniel Yergin
Energy Policy In America Since 1945—Richard Vietor
The Bulldozer in the Countryside—Adam Rome
Energy at the Crossroads—Vaclav Smil
Coal Industry of India—AR Prasad
Sixth Five Year Plan (1980-85)—Planning Commission
The Global Coal Market—Thurber & Morse

4. Tentative Session Plan

Sessions No	Topics
1-2	An overview of Energy Economics and Policy A history of second world war through the prism of energy
3	Indian Energy Policies since Independence; how trijunction of inadequate policies, misjudged demand and supply created repeated energy crises
4-8	Indian governance structure The role of Planning Commission\NitiAayog Role of oversight bodies including CAG, CVC, CBI and other enforcement organizations Role of line ministries Counter-balancing role of regulatory organisations The play between the permanent bureaucracy and the political executive What constitutes a crisis in Indian economic management
9-11	The peaking of demand for energy with onset of Industrial Revolution Rivalry for sources of energy between USA, UK and Russia in 19th century How colonial India fit into the global energy game Developing economics of Coal in India in late 19th century Repeated crisis of coal economics in 20th century—the emergence of domestic sources of financing Responses by colonial government—including setting up of coal controller’s office, inquiry commissions and coal field reports
12-16	Istpost independencecrisis: First and second Industrial Policies as trigger Lack of energy policies in government vision and reasons thereof Response by domestic industry Government plans and its impact on Five Year Plans including drying up of aid 2nd crisis:Rapid spike in inflation due to energy scarcity Reasons for and changing nature of government response including coal and oil nationalisation How mismatch in energy demand and supply led to development of black market in coal, its political capture and of government policies to capture more strategic heights of economy 3rd crisis: Energy scarcity as one of the reasons for liberalization Government response and industrial reaction. Parallel development of coal trade over the same period captures political space and public policy Inevitable coming together of all elements into coal scam Lessons from the successive episodes
17-19	Perpetuation of crises at home and consequent industrial diversification of sources of supply of energy abroad Developing of pressure points for political support from government back home—trigger points Abandoning of pacifist role of energy consumers to that of energy traders by government in this decade—trigger and execution Playing out of the new geo-political role in a new global theatre—lack of models and lack of capacity—need for force multipliers abroad—abandonment of non-alignment and taking up of aggressive stance
20	Summing up

5. Evaluation

Quizzes : 30%
Mid Term : 30%
End Term : 40%

6. Academic Integrity

As per Institute’s norms
Created By: Debasis Mohanty on 02/23/2016 at 10:52 AM
Category: BM-II 2015-17 T-V Doctype: Document

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