This report examines how the Government of India has used subsidies to support different types of energy, updating two previous reviews of India’s energy subsidies. It provides an overview of how India's subsidy practices have changed since the last IISD review.
While since 2014, India has shifted significant public resources toward a clean energy transition, more remains to be done: subsidies for fossil fuels are still over seven times larger than subsidies for alternative energy. The report suggests India should prioritise health and economic recovery as it navigates the COVID-19 crisis, but clean energy transition can and should be reflected in coping strategies and support measures.
The report concludes with seven recommendations for India's future strategy:
- Increase the shift of public resources to clean energy.
- Resist demands for new oil and gas subsidies.
- Adapt renewable energy subsidies for emerging technologies and grid balancing.
- Target consumption subsidies for energy access: LPG and electricity.
- Address the full costs of coal.
- Closely monitor and adapt electric vehicle subsidies.
- Develop formal reporting structures on subsidies.
The data in the report covers all subsidies from production to consumption for coal, oil and gas, electricity transmission and distribution, renewable energy, and electric vehicles. Nuclear and hydropower are not included due to a lack of adequate data availability.