Energy poverty, institutional reform and challenges of sustainable development: the case of India

Jewitt, Sarah; Raman, Sujatha

Abstract

This paper assesses recent efforts by the Indian Government to tackle energy poverty and sustainable development. It focuses on the new integrated energy policy, and initiatives to disseminate improved cookstoves and develop energy alternatives for transport. The success of government initiatives in cleaner biomass cookstoves and village electrification has historically been limited, and institutional reforms in the 2000s promoted market-led and ‘user-centred’ approaches, and encouraged biofuels as a ‘pro-poor’ route to rural development and energy security. The paper argues that such interventions have reopened tensions and conflicts around land-use, intra-community inequalities and the role of corporate agendas in sustainable energy.

Citation

Jewitt, S., & Raman, S. (2017). Energy poverty, institutional reform and challenges of sustainable development: the case of India. Progress in Development Studies, 17(2), https://doi.org/10.1177/1464993416688837

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 6, 2012
• Publication Date: Apr 2, 2017
• Deposit Date: Nov 19, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 2, 2017
• Journal: Progress in Development Studies
• Print ISSN: 1464-9934
• Electronic ISSN: 1477-027X
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 17
• Issue: 2
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1464993416688837
• Keywords: India, energy poverty, sustainable development, Jatropha, cookstoves, biofuels
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/853564
• Publisher URL: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1464993416688837