A Study On Energy Poverty In India

Since 2000,energy poverty has gradually become a challenge for the global energy system,and it also constitutes a significant feature of poverty problem in developing countries,an important part of energy policies and poverty governance for these countries.India is the country with the most serious problem of energy poverty,and it is also one of the countries with the most serious poverty problem.In view of this,the Indian government has proposed the strategic goal of integrating energy policies with poverty reduction policies,and is trying to promote the process of poverty governance through the governance of energy poverty,and has achieved many notable results.From this background,to study the performance,characteristics and impacts of India’s energy poverty as a typical global issue,and further explore how India eliminates energy poverty and promotes effective integration of energy policies and poverty-alleviated policies.These studies have important implications.In particular,based on India ’ s theory and practice of promoting poverty governance through the governance of energy poverty,how to define the relationship between governance of energy poverty and poverty governance at the theoretical level,and at the same time summarize the connotation of their relationship from a realistic perspective,which embodies important theoretical and practical significance.In this regard,this paper will answer above questions from the three aspects.The first is to construct an analytical framework for exploring India’s energy poverty.The current academic research on energy poverty lacks theoretical sensitivity,focuses on quantitative analysis,and does not have a theoretical paradigm directly applicable to explain the problem.Therefore,this article summarizes the core theoretical elements and analysis indicators through the theoretical discussion of energy poverty,and proposes its own analysis framework.This article first starts with the clarification of concepts,and puts a series of related concepts into the dynamic process of the origin and evolution of the concept of energy poverty for comparative analysis.Meanwhile,it distinguishes some concepts that are prone to ambiguity with energy poverty from a static perspective.On this basis,this article derives and analyzes the generation and influence mechanisms of energy poverty.Finally,on the basis of criticizing and inheriting the existing evaluation methods and related theoretical paradigms,based on the above analysis,this article concretes and conceptualizes the relevant core theoretical elements and analysis indicators to form a logical self-consistent,and proposes the analysis frameworks which include "three indicators of energy use","energy poverty vicious circle" and "three elements of energy poverty governance".Secondly,discussing the basic issues involved in India’s energy poverty.One is to analyze the performance of India’s energy poverty by using the "three indicators of energy use".Then,using the "energy poverty vicious circle" to analyze the impact of this issue on India’s economic and social development.Besides,using "three elements of energy poverty governance" to analyze and evaluate India’s policies and practices for energy poverty governance.This article divides India’s governance of energy poverty into four stages after independence.Thirdly,the paper discusses the relationship between governance of energy poverty and poverty governance,which is summarized as "poverty alleviated by energy".The discussion on the performance and impact of energy poverty in India,especially the effectiveness,experience or existing problems of governance,has laid a foundation for further clarifying the relationship between the governance of energy poverty and poverty governance.Through above three research approaches,the paper has three findings.First,in terms of theoretical discussion,the paper believes that energy access,energy services,and energy quality are the core concepts of energy poverty,and its connotation and extension are composed of two dimensions of "energy" and "poverty" and expanded into a multi-dimensional problem.Similarly,the paper finds that its generation mechanism is reflected in the lack of the above three concepts and their linkage relationship,and the impacts of energy poverty also extend from the two dimensions of "energy" and "poverty" into many fields closely related to economic and social development.Secondly,on the basic issues involved in India’s "energy poverty".It is manifested in three aspects: irrational structure of energy consumption,lagging ability of energy consumption,and outdated energy equipment.In particular,for the residential sector,power shortage,over-reliance on traditional biomass,and the widespread use of the Chulha are prominent manifestations of energy poverty in India.On this basis,this article summarizes three characteristics of India’s energy poverty,namely the interweaving with economic poverty,the internal connection with gender issues,and the interaction with the caste system,especially by deeply influenced of Hindu beliefs.Then,the impact of "energy poverty" on India’s economic and social development is mainly reflected in two aspects: restricting the construction of the modern energy system and increasing the difficulty of poverty reduction.Its core concept is the vicious circle of "poverty-energy-poverty",and the essence is the expansion and extension of the "poverty trap".Lastly,the paper believes that successive Indian governments have introduced many policies and measures related to energy poverty governance.Especially,the Modi government has achieved coordination and unity of three elements of "political will","institutional capacity" and "people’s participation",which has resulted in significant governance results.At the same time,through combing and summarizing the four governance stages,it is found that India’s governance of energy poverty is ultimately aimed at solving the poverty problem,reflecting the problem orientation and value orientation of using energy to fight poverty,which is an innovation of India’s poverty governance.In other words,the governance of energy poverty is also of great significance to India.However,in the process of energy poverty governance,India has also encountered many problems and faced many challenges,especially how to achieve the balanced development of traditional energy and renewable energy.Last but not least,on the relationship between "energy poverty" governance and poverty governance,the paper believes that energy poverty and poverty are of course an inseparable relationship.The key to the problem is how to promote poverty governance through the governance of energy poverty.This core content is how to make energy an anti-poverty tool,that is,"poverty alleviated by energy".Combining India’s experience,"poverty alleviated by energy" should look for upgrade paths and promotion strategies from three aspects: making full use of transitional energy,actively give full play to the poverty reduction effect of electricity,and trying to create a "renewable energy+" model.