Investments in operational efficiency, improved power generating stations, lower T&D losses and renewable technologies alone can reduce India’s high energy intensity and avert growth deceleration. This prescription has been held out by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) in a paper on ‘Shaping the Future of Energy’.The paper notes that the time is ripe to enroll Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) to develop, install and finance projects designed to improve energy efficiency costs for facilities over seven to 10 years.India’s energy intensity per unit of GDP is 4.5 times that of Japan, 1.4 times that of Asia and thrice as much as that of the US. This indicates very high energy wastage — and the potential to make substantial energy savings. —ENS
