The country needs to prioritize renewable energy to avoid the burden of high crude prices.

- The country has not seen the expected increase in solar and wind energy production

Russia's invasion of Ukraine disrupted the supply of crude oil and gas around the world, including in India. Most countries in the world depend on imports of crude oil and gas from a handful of countries for their fuel needs. The rise in global fuel prices has a direct impact on the economies of importing countries and also puts their financial position under pressure. The emphasis has so far been on reducing the use of conventional fuels such as coal and petrol-diesel as part of reducing pollution in the world, including India, and replacing non-polluting energy. But nothing solid happens. Russia-Ukraine has told the world that there is an urgent need to increase its consumption of renewable energy. Renewable energy consumption is also cheaper than conventional thermal power, although its output does not increase as expected.

There is no denying that crude oil and gas prices will fall after the end of the war, but the shock of rising crude oil and gas prices is likely to hit consumers in various sectors, including electricity and fertilizer, hard in the coming days. Various sanctions imposed by the US against Russia also cover crude oil and gas. Russia supplies about 60 percent of Europe's total gas demand, and Russia accounts for 7 percent of US crude oil imports.

High crude oil and gas prices are unlikely to bring any relief to Indian consumers in the current year. The recovery, which began after a two-year slump in the global economy after the decline in Corona cases, has led to a surge in demand for crude oil, which also triggered a pre-war crude price shock. Is becoming. Rising crude oil prices have a direct impact on inflation in the country. An estimated ૧૦ 10 a barrel rise in crude oil increases retail inflation by 20 basis points.

This is not the first time India has experienced the shock of high crude oil prices. Earlier, the 19th oil crisis was witnessed. The current crude oil crisis is similar to the one imposed on Arab oil in the 1980s and the crude oil crisis of the Iranian Revolution. Both of these events shook the crude oil in the 180's. In addition, even before the 2008 global financial crisis, crude oil prices jumped to ૪૭ 15 a barrel. During these shocks, the fiscal arithmetic of the then governments was disrupted. Renewable energy such as solar and wind energy can be an alternative to petrol-diesel in many ways. Especially in running pumps used in farms, in industries and in vehicles. By installing solar panels on the buildings of battery charging stations, charging the batteries at the stations can prevent further pressure on the grid. Not only that, the energy stored in the batteries can reduce the pressure on the power structure during the rush hour.

The country's policy makers knew the need for renewable energy production in India decades ago, but hardly any concrete efforts have been made for its development. In addition to slowing down the country's economic activity, high crude oil and gas prices have not only offset the burden on consumers, but will also see a resurgence in the country's recovery from the recession caused by the Corona.

India's target is to increase the installed capacity of renewable energy to 50 gigawatts by 2020. 20 gigawatts out of 50 gigawatts of electricity is solar energy. The country's overall electricity demand is expected to increase to 215 gigawatts in the next decade. To achieve the target of solar energy, India will have to add 3 gigawatts per year to its installed capacity. India's solar sector is currently dependent on imported solar equipment.

Disputes with the coronavirus as well as China have adversely affected India's renewable energy capacity building capacity. About 60 per cent of the equipment used in solar power generation is sourced from China. There is no doubt that India has been able to revolutionize the renewable energy sector with the help of cheap imports from China. If we want to shift from conventional power sources like coal to renewable energy sector, we will have to adopt a pragmatic rather than political approach in the power sector. For this, the government also needs to provide relief to the developers of renewable energy.

The strategy of diverting planned investments towards expansion of renewable energy to increase the installed capacity of renewable energy could be positive in the long run. Instead of relying on crude oil and gas to boost the country's economy, investing in clean energy such as solar and wind energy will reduce pollution in the country as well as avoid the recurring shock of high crude oil and gas prices.