Opinion
No signals on energy access
07 Mar 2011 |
Dr Leena Srivastava
| The Financial Express
India is poised to enter the last year of the 11th Five-Year Plan period in which we had set ourselves some ambitious targets for strengthening the infrastructure sector, including energy availability. However, it is apparent that we are once again not on the path to meeting the original electricity generation capacity additions by at least 30% if not more.
Imports of coal are slated to go up from 59 million tonnes in 2008-09 to nearly 142 million tonnes by the end of this fiscal. Oil production has stagnated for the last several years while crude oil imports have increased from a 100 million tonnes in 2005-06 to 160 mt in 2009-10. Natural gas has shown a healthy growth but the gas transportation grid in the country still needs huge investments. The signals provided in the current Budget have to be seen in this context.
On the supply side, the finance minister has clearly recognised the challenges faced by the infrastructure sectors, including energy, in raising the magnitude of finances that would be supportive of an aggressive growth plan. To that extent, he has announced several measures to ease this pressure, including: (i) substantially increasing the FII limit for investments in corporate bonds to $40 billion (ii) permitting FIIs to in unlisted bonds of infrastructure SPVs with a minimum lock-in period of three years; (iii) creating special vehicles in the form of notified infrastructure debt funds to attract foreign funds with a substantial reduction on withholding tax rate from 20% to 5% on interest payments and fully exempting the incomes of the fund from tax; (iv) extending the additional deduction of ,000 for investment in long-term infrastructure bonds by another year.
On the energy demand side, too, several positive measures have been announced in the Budget speech. Most significant among these is the move to provide kerosene subsidies in a more targeted fashion directly to intended beneficiaries through direct cash transfers. This was a proposal that Teri has also made nearly five years ago, highlighting the fact that nearly 26-40% of the total kerosene consumed in the country cannot be accounted for and the possible implications this had for adulterating diesel. Teri had, in fact, also pointed out that 76% of the LPG subsidy goes to urban areas and nearly 40% of the LPG subsidy is enjoyed by top 6.75% of the population. One hopes that a similar targeted approach would be taken to LPG pricing as well.
The finance minister has also done well to recognise the emerging role of electric and hybrid vehicles and has announced the setting up of a national mission on the subject. The developments in this area would need to be watched in the coming months. Several other initiatives to facilitate the development of green mobility options: (i) concessional excise duty of 10% on fuel cell/hydrogen driven vehicles; (ii) exemption from basic customs duty and special CVD on parts of hybrid vehicles; and (iii) a concessional rate of excise duty of 5% to incentivise domestic production of hybrid vehicles.
What continues to be disappointing in terms of policy signals is the totally inadequate attention being given to energy access issues. With over 600 million people continuing to be dependent on traditional biomass energy forms for meeting their cooking energy needs and nearly 400 million people having absolutely no access to electricity in their homes, the delivery of inclusive development becomes questionable. The fact that energy must be provided in order to meet the other eight millennium development goals is a universally accepted. Yet, no clear strategy seems to be implicit in any part of the Budget exercise. The only exception being the reduction of basic customs duty on solar lanterns from 10% to 5% and that on a few other inputs used in the manufacture of solar modules/ cells being reduced to nil.
Finally, "a group of ministers has been set up to consider all issues relating to reconciliation of environmental concerns emanating from various departmental activities, including those related to infrastructure and mining. This group will also suggest changes in the existing statutes, rules, regulations and guidelines and make its recommendations in a time-bound manner." For the coal and power sectors, in particular, the recommendations of this committee are going to be crucial. However, in arriving at their recommendations, one can only hope that the committee would undertake a careful evaluation of the longer-term trade-offs involved and would appropriately balance the different - economic, social and environmental - pillars of sustainable development.
Budgeting for the environment
01 Mar 2011 |
Dr Leena Srivastava
| Mint
Just three years ago (2008-09), the Budget speech of the Finance Minister found barely a mention of environment, with the exception of possibly clean drinking water and an introduction to climate change. By contrast, today, environmental considerations are sprinkled throughout the text of the Budget speech which is encouraging in that the Government is becoming sensitive to the need to appear environmentally conscious and, maybe, to the fact that environmental concerns could potentially derail the economic growth prospects. Having said that, the speech also makes transparent the long way India has to go to fully understand the complex environmental implications of its policies and regulations and achieve the policy coherence needed to ensure long term sustainability.
A good illustration of such incoherence is provided in the context of agriculture and the environment. Thus, there is a recognition in the Budget of the need to expand the green revolution to the eastern region while at the same time lamenting the deterioration in soil health due to indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers and distorted pricing structures. Similarly, the virtues of palm oil (which is a water guzzling crop) have been highlighted to meet the edible oil shortage while emphasizing the need for water conservation in the context of using a by-product of palm oil in laundry soap!
The budget does well in recognizing the contribution of solar lanterns to rural development and providing customs duty relief on its components but stops short of reviewing the efficacy of the Rajeev Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) in providing reliable electricity in rural areas nor does it recognize the role that solar energy can play in supporting the cold chain infrastructure for agricultural produce. The telecom towers sprinkled all over rural India still largely use diesel gensets for meeting their energy requirements at a very high cost - India would do well to learn from this experience and look for clean alternatives for the cold chain business.
Also, the support to the small and medium enterprise sector must extend to the provision of clean technology development support if environmental concerns are not to hamper development needs.
Environmentally positive aspects of the Budget revolve around the long-pending recognition of the futility of kerosene subsidies and the explicit sections on environment and climate change in both parts of the FM's speech. However, if one compares the couple of hundred crores of rupees each allocated to forests, environmental management and the cleaning of rivers with the tens of thousands of crores allocated to economic growth supporting and social inclusion programmes, it is obvious that the third pillar of sustainable development continues to get short shrift in the country. Finally, as the self-confessed statement of the FM himself ("..... the implementation gaps, leakages from public programmes and the quality of our outcomes are a serious challenge.") begs the answer: is the annual budget balancing exercise the best place to look for strategic policy statements and outcomes from the government?
NREGS and Agriculture: Manifestations and Opportunities
01 Mar 2011 |
Dr Shailly Kedia
,Dr Shilpi Kapur
,Mr Anandajit Goswami
| Agriculture Today
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is an important milestone and mechanism, the manifestations of which help us in reviewing crucial issues regarding the impact of development interventions in Indian rural ecosystems. This commentary by Shailly Kedia, Anandajit Goswami and Shilpi Kapur, from the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi , India , revisits manifestations of such large-scale government interventions to discuss some cross-cutting issues and opportunities pertaining farm labour, multiplier effects and human capital. Government emphasis needs to continue focus on need of the hour, which is that of effectiveness and efficiency in public delivery by consolidation and convergence of government programmes that could be vital in synchronizing livelihood security and rural agriculture.
The link between livelihood security and rural agriculture can be derived from the stated objective in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which mentions the creation of durable assets and strengthening "livelihood resource base" of the rural poor. Moreover one of the stated goals of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is to act as a "growth engine for sustainable development of an agricultural economy" through provision of employment in public works that address causes of chronic poverty such as drought, deforestation and soil erosion. When over 58.4% of the nation's population is dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods, it becomes an important imperative not to digress from the conceptual basis of programmes like NREGS in terms of its relevance as a poverty alleviation measure that links livelihood security to long-term enhancement of rural livelihood resources, rise in agricultural productivity and increase in income earning of rural farmers. Also, a synergy between rural employment guarantee programmes and agricultural activities could lead to better domestic agricultural output, which in turn would be vital in ensuring that the country is self-reliant in terms of food sufficiency.
India is facing agricultural challenges. Trends in growth rates of different agricultural indicators (viz. irrigated area, input use, credit, and capital stock) have been declining in the post-reform period. Production of foodgrains has slipped during 2009-10 mainly owing to a fall in the Kharif output. This decline was mainly attributed to drought that has affected 316 districts in 13 states; other factors like lack of crop diversification, and water availability.
The 2010 report to the citizens, speaks of NREGS as the "forefront" of government's effort to promote inclusive growth. GoI also talks of measures taken in the agriculture sector in context of food security and welfare of farmers, which include investing in land, focus on inputs, the National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), and support to state extension reforms.
Interrelating development issues becomes important for considerations and re-considerations that need to be made for large-scale government programmes like NREGS to evolve simultaneously and converge with other related rural agricultural interventions.
NREGS has demonstrated an immense potential to reach the rural population and benefit agriculture through public works in water and irrigation works, and weather risk mitigation. With this rationale, we comment on the manifestations and opportunities relevant to NREGS and agriculture under three heads:
- Farm Labour
- Multiplier Effects, and
- Human Capital.
Farm labour
Evidence shows that rural employment guarantee schemes have led to an increase in bargaining power in agricultural markets. Theoretically in an agrarian ecosystem, the demand for work by rural beneficiaries under employment schemes should vary inversely with agricultural wage rates and public works programmes should not compete with agricultural labour hiring decisions - this balance is important as the trade-offs should not occur at the cost of agricultural activities.
Agriculture in rural India is largely rain-fed, and is characterized by seasonality that results in slack season when agricultural labour demand is low and a peak/harvest season when labour demand is high. Moreover there is movement of labour across and within states. In India , rural-rural migration contributes substantially–an estimated 62% of all migratory movements. Studies find that NREGS has led to reduction in migration. Here it would be interesting to see how in the long- run, the additional agricultural labour availability within states responds to implementation of the first element of the four-pronged strategy as announced by the government in the 2010 budget, that mentions of extending the green revolution to states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa.
Anecdotal evidence has linked poor agricultural performance to NREGS induced rural labour market distortions. In Tamil Nadu for instance, NREGS is said to have created multiple impacts such as diverting large tracts of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes along with causing shortage of farm labour in rural areas. Similarly Punjab has reported of acute farm labour shortage and shifts to mechanical ways of agricultural processes. Despite a fair agricultural wage of Rs 100 in Punjab , there has been shortage of migrant agricultural labourers from Bihar and UP, who have preferred the marginally lower NREGS wage and the comfort of staying back in their home states.
CDS (2009) also finds negative impacts in the agricultural sector in Kerala, where frequent replanting and harvesting in rice fields have been delayed because of NREGS induced labour shortage. The study recommends a proper work calendaring so that NREGS works are done during agricultural lean season to reduce the problem of labour shortage in agricultural peak season. Andhra Pradesh in this regard has responded with a rationing mechanism to ensure that local farming activities are not impacted due to shortage in labour.
From an environmental perspective, the increasing farm mechanization as already happening in case of Punjab may in the long-run further add to environmental degradation and depletion at the cost of agriculture if technologies deployed herein are not environmentally- benign. These apart, for the small and marginal farmers—many of who are already reeling in debt—the trend towards increased mechanization and greater capital investment in farm machinery and equipment could prove to be uneconomical.
In absence of detailed studies, such reported cases are however not sufficient by any means to say that NREGS wages have competed with agricultural wages at the cost of farming activities. Nevertheless, it is of relevance that agricultural activities continue uninterrupted provided farmers are able to anticipate and adequately respond to uncertainties pertaining agri-labour.
Multiplier Effects
Public works under NREGS include flood control and protection, water conservation and harvesting, drought proofing, micro-irrigation, provision of irrigation facility, and renovation of traditional water bodies, rural connectivity and other land development activities as approved by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD). The non-inflationary nature of the expenditure under NREGS could be further justified if ‘multiplier-accelerator' benefits from public works could lead to a spur in agricultural growth. This aspect is of further relevance to agriculture due to the recent amendment by MoRD that has enlarged the scope of NREGS works to small and marginal farmers.
A study finds that deepening and widening of canals have curbed the flow of saline water to agricultural lands in pockets of Kerala. This apart, according to the study, micro irrigation works and renovation of small irrigation have benefited collective farming in Kerala. Also, CSE (2008) finds percolation of benefits to the agricultural sector from NREGS works—the survey finds a 14.5% increase in sown area under vegetables due to increased water availability from public works under NREGS in Nuapada (Orissa). The survey also reports of increase in crop diversification due to improved access to irrigation brought by NREGS and Rajiv Gandhi Watershed Development Programme in Sidhi district (Madhya Pradesh). Moreover, an additional 371.6 acres of fallow land was brought under cultivation in the state.
Civil society groups have often expressed concerns on lack of technical capacity at the field level in terms of designing and implementing public works under NREGS. In Kerala, CDS (2009) finds overburdening of field level technical personnel leading to irregular supervision by engineer and overseer. Both CDS and CSE studies find that even though there were many works created under categories like water conservation, most of the funds were actually diverted towards the category of rural connectivity. For example in Trikarpur Panchayat, rural connectivity accounted for 28% of expenditure compared to its recommended limit of 10% in 2008- 09; same was the case in districts of Nuapada (Orissa) and Sidhi (Madhya Pradesh). A reason for this is that remuneration is easily calculable in road works and hence implementing agencies preferred rural connectivity to water conservation. This apart, the 60:40 fund allocation rule between wage and material have restricted quality asset creation in coastal areas of Kerala, according to the CDS study. NREGS has been successful in targeting and as a risk mitigating mechanism by providing a source of income for the poorest of poor households. For households, ensuring food security includes both physical availability and economic accessibility to sufficient, safe and nutritious food. Provision of supplementary wage employment under NREGS is creating the minimum purchasing power for household food security. Furthermore, additional income from NREGS can facilitate investments in better quality seeds, and agricultural assets like tractors and livestock.
Whereas evidence of actual impact of additional income on improvement in farm asset holdings has been scarce, studies paint a mixed picture. A survey on the earlier Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Scheme has found that additional income has led to increased investment in construction of wells and installation of pump sets in farm households. However in case of NREGS, an IAMR survey finds negligible impact on farm asset base like cultivable land, tubewells, bullock carts and tractors owing to additional income; for example, a mere one percent increase in bullock cart holding and less than one percent in other categories.
In future, convergence of NREGS with schemes such as the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) will be seen as an opportunity to enhance the potential to create a sustained income opportunity for the local people as has happened in case of Kalghati Taluka (Karnataka), where 7500 acres of mango plantations have been carried out. Similarly programmes under the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) have been scheduled for convergence with NREGS to enhance use of degraded forest land. NREGS in convergence with other government programmes thus has a potential to generate ‘multiplier accelerator synergies' for rural India by reaching out to agricultural households. However the realisation of this potential at the grassroots would still remain a challenging task.
Human Capital
At present, agriculture is a principal means of livelihood for over 58.4% of India 's population. In 2020, about half of the country's population would be in age group of 15 to 44 years, and a bulk of which could be concentrated in rural areas. Percentage of male and female population in age group of 15-44 years in 2020 is projected to be 24.52% and 23.11% respectively, which could mean nearly half of the nation's population. If the country wants to tap into this demographic dividend for its future economic growth, the challenge would be to create jobs in rural areas, which includes the agricultural sector. Whereas there might be a declining preference for agricultural activities, considerations for skill enhancement in the agriculture sector are important. Moreover from a gender dimension, contribution of rural women in farm labour is significant– about 55-66%. With employment guarantee programs becoming an additional (or alternate) source of employment for rural populace, it also becomes relevant to consider enhancement of human capital including components of skill enhancement, training and education.
With regard to NREGS and agriculture, a vital question would be whether we are ‘de-skilling' an agricultural economy without ‘re-skilling' the farm workforce. A survey in the Madikai, Ajanoor and Trikarpur panchayats of Kerala by the Centre for Development Studies (CDS, 2009) finds that many young workers who are coming into rural labour market as a result of NREGS are not willing to work in the agricultural sector. This unwillingness in the young rural workforce is attributed to low wages with more efforts in agricultural works.
The study also find that in case of women, NREGS has been able to bring some dormant labour force into the paid labour market by drawing majority of NREGS female work force from the female marginal workers category. However, despite the increase in wage rate for women workers in agricultural works from Rs. 80 to Rs. 110 for a full day's work in the regions, young women prefer employment in NREGS works over agriculture due to lack of skills related to replanting and weeding. Recently, the government announced a sub-scheme named “Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana” under NRLM to meet specific needs of women farmers.
Scope of NREGS could be expanded to facilitate knowledge-intensive farm practices like precision farming, organic farming, integrated crop and nutrient management sys- tem. Presently, MoRD in its convergence guidelines lists basic human development as one of the building blocks for facilitating sustainable livelihood opportunities. The 115 pilot districts selected for convergence include schemes under the MoWR, ICAR and MoE, but none include schemes specific to skill building under the labour ministry.
In this regard, Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) and other provisions under the NRLM, and other ongoing state and central level vocational training programmes could have an immense potential to benefit rural beneficiaries in terms of skill enhancement activities in agricultural and other sectors.
Emphasis and Re-emphasis
It becomes essential to approach the threat of declining performance in agricultural productivity as an opportunity for a critical rethinking to make certain long-term considerations for development, implementation and consolidation pertaining large-scale government programmes for realization of the nation's development goals.
We summarize the imperatives for future pathways for synergies between agriculture and programmes like NREGS. First, it becomes important that changes in agricultural labour endowments be taken as an opportunity for revitalizing productivity of farms in home states—in this regard NREGS itself along with other agricultural programmes could play an important role. Second, it is essential that ‘multiplier-accelerator' effects be generated from NREGS public works to benefit agriculture. Finally, the dimension of human cap- ital also becomes important so that beneficiaries ‘graduate' from being mere receivers of cash to becoming informed and skilled citizens.
We conclude by considering two possible scenarios regarding the future of agriculture in India .
Scenario 1: Given that the future is possibly going to witness decreasing preference for farming activities—and perhaps the farming regime were to shift towards being intensive—it would be necessary to ensure a smooth transition to an era characterized by large farms.
Scenario 2: If small-scale agriculture were to stay, then there would be a need to pave development pathways so that we truly achieve the model of local self-governance or the “Gram Swaraj” as envisioned by Mahatma Gandhi.
In either of the two scenarios NREGS, along with other interventions like NRLM, RKVY and NFSM have an important role to play for a smooth transition in the challenging years ahead.
Climate Change Negotiations in Cancun in retrospection: a progress or regress
28 Feb 2011 |
Ms Neha Pahuja
| EQ International
Copenhagen was a setback in climate negotiations since it failed to realize a unanimous outcome, despite the urgency that science demands, and also the mandate of the Bali Action Plan (BAP). While the process was criticized for its lack of transparency and not being inclusive, the substance of the outcome, the Copenhagen Accord, was only 'noted' and not adopted by the Parties. The outcome, thereby, lead to mistrust amongst Parties and other stakeholders. The Copenhagen Accord, for its legal status or the lack of it, did not hold any good but could provide useful inputs as it was representative of the political will. A great challenge for Cancun, therefore, was to restore faith in the multilateral process and to forge an agreement that operationalizes elements of the Copenhagen Accord in conjunction with the two parallel tracks (Adhoc Working Group on Long Term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA) and the Adhoc Working Group on Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP)) under the BAP. It was also an opportunity to correct the imperfections of the Accord by further elaborating on many of its elements. Another and most important challenge was to restore lost faith in multilateral process.
Both the process and the substance were, therefore, important for a successful outcome at Cancun. This entails that while the process achieves a delicate balance between transparency and efficiency, the substance brings clarity over scope and future of climate negotiations. Further any outcome is ideal if it meets the criteria of a) environmental efficacy, that is, success of the outcome to achieve the ultimate objective of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) which is to is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere to prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system within a time frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner ; b) equity, that is, equitable sharing of burden and efforts of Parties in accordance with the common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) and respective capabilities ; and c) national interests, that is, fully taking into account economic and social development and poverty eradication as the first and overriding priorities .Outcome at Cancun was nothing less than complex both in terms of the process and the substance.
In terms of the process, while the negotiations leading to the 'Cancun Agreements' took place under the AWG-LCA 13 and AWG-KP 15, the Mexico government also facilitated number of consultations and parallel processes, such as the Cartagena Dialogue, throughout the year to enable constructive progress in negotiations. At Cancun, while number of sub groups (read contact groups) were formed under the AWGs from the very beginning of the talks, informal consultations, facilitated by pairs of ministers from both developed and developing country Parties, took place in the later half to progress on issues including shared vision, adaptation, mitigation, finance and technology transfer amongst others. The progress in these consultations was reported in informal stocktaking plenary convened by COP President and later presented as 'draft texts' reflecting Parties' work under the AWGs. The draft was received well by all but one Party, with some level of compromise by majority of Parties on account of being able to achieve progress. Bolivia was the only Party to oppose it, stating that the text does not reflect converging opinions. The COP presidency, however, gaveled down Bolivia, to reach the substantive outcome, the so-called 'Cancun Agreements'. The outcome has since been hailed for having restored faith in the multilateral process after the setback in Copenhagen.
This has, at the same time, also opened new debates, such as 'what does consensus based decision making entail', 'how different (read convenient) are the decision making rules based on: general agreement, voting and consensus', 'does a consensus based decision making rule provide veto power to each Party'. It needs to be noted that the COP has never been able to adopt a decision in its rules of procedure in this regard. However, there exists a need to rethink the basis of decision making in the rules of procedure before a similar issue arises again in future.
In terms of substance of the outcome, the 'Cancun Agreements' builds upon the Copenhagen Accord and the other track to cover the main elements of the BAP, namely: a shared vision for long-term cooperative action, adaptation, mitigation, finance, technology, and capacity building. The agreement captures the progress, though incremental, in a framework comprising of new institutions and their work plan as basis of future negotiations which, at best, highlights the spirit of compromise in the negotiations at Cancun. The following section analyses the progress on elements of BAP in Cancun Agreements in light of the three criteria (environmental efficacy, equity and national interests) and put forth certain issues to be considered in the future.
A Shared vision for long-term cooperative action: All Parties recognized the need of deep cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions so as to hold the increase in global average temperature below 2oC and also recognized the need to consider strengthening this long-term global goal on the basis of the best available scientific knowledge, including in relation to a global average temperature rise of 1.5oC in its first review, to begin in 2013 and conclude by 2015. In this context, it only recognized the need of deep cuts (and not the specific cuts) and further agreed to only work towards identifying a global goal for substantially reducing global emissions by 2050 to be considered in next COP in Durban in 2011. Similarly, agreed to only work towards identifying a timeframe for global peaking of emissions based on the best available scientific knowledge and 'equitable access to sustainable development' by Durban. The progress, therefore, was nothing but incremental which failed to resolve on crucial elements of the shared vision probably for the lack of clarity on the nature of outcome.
An agreement would have scored high on environmental efficacy, if the nature, level and scope of deep-cuts were known, whereas, the Cancun Agreement has only postponed the decision to Durban. The agreement further adds ambiguity to the basis of equity, by qualifying it as 'equitable access to sustainable development', something which could neither be defined nor be measured. Instead, a win-win reference could have been equitable access to 'global atmospheric space'. The shared vision further recognizes that the time frame for peaking will be longer in developing countries, as their social and economic development and poverty eradication are the first and overriding priorities but qualifies it further that a 'low-carbon development strategy is indispensable to sustainable development', which could be seen as an important regress in position as far as our National interests are concerned.
Mitigation: Mitigation with respect to developed countries and developing countries as elaborated in the Cancun Agreements may result in significant changes in the international climate regime. For it is the first time, that even developing countries are obliged to undertake emission reduction, targets and actions pledged under the Copenhagen Accord. The Agreement hence anchors these pledges (since the INF document does not exist yet, this is an operational assumption) in the formal FCCC process. According to few studies, these pledges are inadequate in terms of environmental efficacy as even if implemented effectively will set the world on a 3-4o C path. It is much evident therefore that the bottom up pledges, that replace science based top down approach, are inadequate to achieve the stated global target of limiting to 2o C. On equity, there has been a major compromise by the developing world as while the developed country Parties' have managed to escape, through their voluntary pledges, the legally binding commitments under the second commitment of Kyoto Protocol for now, they have also succeeded in introducing some form of obligation on the developing country Parties. This entails blurring of the principle of CBDR that called for developed country Parties to take the lead. Further, this raises questions on the future of Kyoto Protocol and its second commitment period and may be perceived as a step backward by postponing a decision on a second commitment period indefinitely through a new regime which is flexible and voluntary. Domestically, it is still not clear of the extent of these pledges since India's pledge under the Copenhagen Accord had caveats associated with it. Further, the level and scope of these pledges will decide the required resources and regulations for effective implementation of these pledges. Important here is to also understand spillover effects on the developmental goals of India and work out if the agreement was truly in our National interest!
Adaptation: The Cancun Agreements establishes the Cancun Adaptation Framework, which is set of institutional arrangements to enhance adaptation efforts by all Parties. It also establishes a work program to consider 'approaches to address loss and damage associated with climate change'. The key elements, however, will only be clear through the next year's work plan and its outcome.
Technology: The Cancun Agreements set up a technology mechanism comprising of Technology Executive Committee, Climate Technology Centre and Climate Technology Network with a broad mandate including research and design, deployment and diffusion, development of national system of innovation and technology action plans amongst others. However, the Cancun Agreement does mention the issue of intellectual property rights (IPR), which has been one of the crucial issues in the negotiations so far. This certainly has a bearing on our National interests as the issue has considerable influence over access to and cost of technology that will be required for the transition necessitated by the new regime (read obligations). In effect, this would have implications of the efficacy of the developing country pledges in general. Besides, there are other issues that need to be addressed such as the linkage between the technology mechanism and finance mechanism, the relationship between the technology executive committee and the Climate Technology Centre and Network etc. A program of work has been established further these discussions and resolve them by 2011. This issue was taken up during ministerial discussions where draft decision text was finalized.
Finance: The Cancun Agreement, formally, establishes the Green Climate Change fund as an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the FCCC with a committee set up to design various aspects of the fund and the World Bank as interim trustee. The agreement also incorporates the finance goals set in the Copenhagen Accord that is 30 billion USD as fast-start finance for 2010-12 and to mobilize 100 billion USD by 2020. While these goals in itself seem inadequate, given the global estimates of costs, the additional qualification 'in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation' may reduce it even further. This has resulted in further obligation on the developing country Parties on account of MRV (measure, report, verify) and ICA (International consultation and analysis). However, there was no decision on the sources of the fund which has been an impasse in negotiations.
Challenges and way forward: It is much evident that the Cancun Agreement is not the end as much has to be achieved in the coming year. But it was important to be able to restore faith in multilateral process and was an epitome of compromises where in nations readily accepted any incremental progress falling way short of their initial demands. However, it is important to reinstate that in doing so Parties must not renegotiate on the agreed principles and provisions of FCCC but built on that. Further, International community must also restore credibility of science in Durban by some form of agreement on future commitment and the Kyoto Protocol.
For an integrated resources policy
23 Feb 2011 |
Dr Maria Ligia Noronha
| The Hindu
It is time to think out of the box and develop policy and regulatory models that are unique to us, rather than adopt the sector specific imported model of independent regulators.
A high-power committee headed by Ashok Chawla has been constituted to look into the pricing, allocation and utilisation of natural resources. The recent cases of illegal mining and corruption, undervaluation of 2G spectrum and its allocation, pricing of natural gas, and the potential of shale gas have prompted this exercise, long overdue. Here is an opportunity, however, to put in place an integrated development and regulatory policy for natural resources development rather than opt for a limited agenda.
Several factors make the need for an integrated policy compelling. One, the rising prices and economic rents these resources generate require a revisiting of how the rent is appropriated, and of the arrangements and business models we have to allocate resources and share the rents between the developer and the state. Two, the resource and capacity needs of the constituent resource rich States need to be assessed. For, key resources such as oil, natural gas, minerals, coal and hydropower are owned by the States and controlled by the Centre. Three, the strategic aspects of coal, oil, base metals, and rare earth metals need a longer term perspective on their development and utilisation. Four, the often adverse environmental implications of development call for a context-specific, informed and inclusive debate on weak and strong sustainability criteria. Five, the social impact that their development creates, in the absence of a focussed attention on a more people-oriented resources policy, will result in inequitable and unfair outcomes and, increasingly, a reduced social licence to operate. Six, oil, gas, coal and minerals are exhaustible resources. Developing them today means we forgo the opportunity of developing them in future. It is important to ensure that some of the revenues earned from such development are put into intergenerational funds so that they generate income streams in perpetuity, as does the Government Pension Fund of Norway that is built on a share of its petroleum revenues, and invests the proceeds in income generating activities. A fiscal rule then determines what can be appropriated for budgetary purposes.
In India, as in many other countries, there is a tendency to treat these issues separately. But the time has come for us to think out of the box and develop policy and regulatory models that are unique to us, with a common architecture rather than merely adopting the sector-specific imported model of independent regulators. Given that resources in India occur in rich terrestrial or marine environments - and onshore resources in the midst of dense habitations - and that we are still in the early stages of their development, there is a strong case for an integrated resources policy.
Our work in these sectors suggests the need to engage with the following questions:
Should India consider having different business models for different minerals depending on their strategic and economic importance, rather than a uniform concession system for all? For example, oil and gas have adopted production sharing contracts (PSC) because of their strategic importance and value. Should we not think of production sharing contracts or rate of return contracts for iron ore, copper, lead and zinc, for greater resource control, to capture the resource rent more effectively, and to have options to take shares in kind that can be used to develop downstream industry in States? Not being able (or willing) to oversee or control the cost component in production sharing contracts should not be an excuse for not seriously engaging with this business model.
Inadequate approach
Should we not introduce intergenerational principles in the design of funds that we create out of our resource revenues? The current approach is to impose a cess on the sector and then have the proceeds go to a sectoral fund which is part of the Consolidated Fund of India, as is the case of the Oil Industry Development Fund, a model that is also proposed by the MMDR Bill 2010. This approach is inadequate and, going by the experience of the oil fund, does not recognise the intergenerational aspects of exhaustible resource development. The oil cess is not shared with the States. Assam and Rajasthan have been asking for a share in grants from the oil development cess or its reduction to accommodate a larger additional royalty to States to be used for local development. Resource revenues need to be transparently recorded and spent on current poverty alleviation and social development priorities, and also invested in future needs.
Should we not use more competitive bidding processes to allocate acreage, blocks, and sites to get better deals for States as argued by Chhattisgarh Governor Shekhar Dutt in his letter to the PMO on the MMDR Bill 2010? Competitive bidding processes or auctions capture the differential quality of the resource or the hydropower sites, and the desirability of resource to the entrepreneur, and result in better economic outcomes for the resource owner relative to discretionary allocations, as the economic agent is in a better position to judge the value of the resource and express this valuation through the bid or premium offered as compared to the assessments of government agents.
Should we not seek to integrate better economic, social and environmental regulations around natural resource development? Environmental regulation can result in reduced competition and create barriers to entry through, for example, the time involved in the permitting process, tradable pollution permits which benefit the dominant firms, etc. On the other hand, permissive entry policies or the absence of policy or its enforcement can result in excessive competition and entry which exacerbate the cumulative environmental and social impacts, as is evident in the mining in Goa and Karnataka.
Should we not revisit Centre-State relations in the context of environmental regulation of resource development? The current sharing of rights and responsibilities of environmental management and oversight tends strongly to favour the Centre, as against the need for much more distributed governance. There is a limited functional interaction between Central and State authorities and among relevant State level agencies. The role of gram sabhas, PRIs is limited or absent, even where decentralisation is provided for, the corresponding institutional and fiscal support is inadequate and, overall, the States are under no strict obligation to devolve functions on natural resource management to local bodies.
Resource federalism
Should we not focus on strengthening the institutions of resource federalism as we put in place more and more independent regulators which tend to centralise power at the Centre? Resource federalism was not an issue in the earlier phases of resource development, in that federal arrangements did not constrain the Centre's statist and centrist approach to it. However, economic reform and coalition politics are leading to new demands from the States. As the Centre seeks to accommodate them through a greater devolution of revenues and control, there is need to strengthen the institutions of oversight and rule enforcement, which involve all three levels of government. In fact, in this context, and given the poor regulatory performance of the mineral rich States in recent times, should we not have a diffusion of regulatory control through society by requiring a more pro-active disclosure of information in connection with the RTI, institutionalising social audits and participatory monitoring using indicators, tools and spatial databases? One of the most interesting developments using Google earth maps, for example, is the way people are now in a position to locate illegal mining and the dumping of overburden rejects, and create protests around it because they have the information they need.
Let logic prevail
21 Feb 2011 |
Mr R K Batra
| The Financial Express
Natural gas is a relatively nascent industry, and there are many issues which need to be speedily resolved for this industry to grow and prosper.
In its judgement on the Ambani dispute, the Supreme Court has said that the government must come out with a comprehensive policy on natural gas.
Companies that discover oil enjoy a tax holiday but the same is not true for gas. When companies drill, they find find either oil or gas or both. It seems unfair that those who discover oil get a tax benefit and those who discover gas do not.
After its initial enthusiasm, the government lost interest in the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline but kept it alive through intermittent meetings. The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline is now being discussed and has the support of both the US and the Asian Development Bank. The government must now not dither but boldly confront and take a stand on issues of security, transit and transportation costs and landed costs considering that India will be at the tail-end of the pipeline.
The allocation policy of gas from the K-G basin, as formulated by the empowered group of ministers, leaves it open to interpretation. For example, within a sub-sector, if there are competing requirements, who gets the priority? For a project to be bankable, gas supply needs to be assured. In some cases, the argument has been turned on its head: first build the project, and then we will see if gas can be allocated. This is illogical. The system needs to be made more transparent and encouraging downstream investment.
There is a view that for a gas market to develop and price discovery to take place, a national gas grid with trading hubs has to be developed. But for a commercial entity to put up a gas pipeline (leave alone a national grid) there has to be an assurance of supply, consumption and a reasonable pipeline tariff. It would seem more logical for individual pipelines to develop over time to be eventually linked to organically form a grid instead of building a gas grid in anticipation of supply.
The role of regulator too needs to be looked into. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act gives the board limited powers, and even these have caused a turf war between the government and the board, leading to delays. While, the PNGRB Act was notified on October 1, 2007, section 16 was not notified. The section authorises the regulator to approve laying, building, operating or expanding a city or local natural gas distribution network.
Though the board had issued licences in six cities, it could not proceed with the bids for seven other cities following a restraint order by the Delhi High Court. The Union law ministry subsequently cleared a petroleum ministry proposal to notify section 16. Apart from preventing such long delays, there is a need to give more teeth to the regulator if it is to function effectively.
Meanwhile, in a positive development, the PNGRB has announced revised zone-wise tariffs for the main HBJ transmission pipeline and the newly constructed East West gas pipeline.
No momentum in distribution
24 Jan 2011 |
Mr Saurabh Gupta
| The Financial Express
The Electricity Act 2003 envisaged distancing the power sector from direct government control by setting up independent regulatory commissions so that power sector utilities can function as commercial entities, leading to sustainable operations.
Almost eight years have passed since, still state electricity distribution utilities are grappling with operational and financial inefficiencies, leading to high T&D and AT&C losses, high energy and peak deficit and large revenue gaps. In a true sense, power sector reforms have not really taken off in the distribution segment. Direct or indirect interference by vested interests remains a challenge for the regulatory bodies, and their complete independence remains a distant dream.
Power supply accounts for the bulk of a utility's cost. Forecasting demand accurately is a prerequisite for meeting the ever-increasing requirement of electricity. Any failure to undertake such assessments for short-, medium- and long-term scenarios leads to inefficient power purchase arrangements.
Despite the significant capital intensive interventions over the years, AT&C losses in the country have remained high. AT&C losses were around 28% in 2008-09. Power theft remains a key threat to the profitability and self-sustenance of the sector. The lack of metering till the distribution transformer level, innovative ways used by power thieves, local political environment in which the utility operates are some of the reasons that inhibit curbing of power theft.
The inefficient tariff structure is another area of concern. State electricity regulatory commissions (SERCs) have failed to work out a realistic and progressive tariff structure that reflects cost-to-serve and targets a reduction of cross-subsidy, promotes competition in distribution and bridges the revenue gap of utilities. The tariff structure is beset with direct and indirect subsidies (cross-subsidy). In most states, electricity is being supplied to the agricultural sector free or on nominal tariffs. Further, in most of these cases, direct subsidies are not provided by state governments, which widens the revenue gap for the utility.
Ideally, tariffs should be based on the cost of power supply to the respective categories. A comprehensive assessment of category-wise costs has not been done by most utilities, and the inherent consumer resistance to any increase in tariffs is generally attributed to supply side inefficiencies. Also, political sensitivity of the sector poses further hurdles to designing a viable tariff regime.
Thus, to enhance the efficiency and performance of the sector, regulatory commissions have to play a key role. Directives issued by the SERCs and interventions envisaged to reform the sector needs to be prioritised and a more focused approach is required. The very basic initiatives such as 100% metering at the consumer, feeder and distribution transformer levels needs urgent attention.
Also, studies on demand forecasting, cost of power supply and load research can help improve efficiencies. Teri is assisting regulatory commissions and utilities in such studies.
Use the new opportunities
09 Jan 2011 |
Dr R K Pachauri
| The Tribune
The year must mark a turning point in the implementation of the National Action Plan on Climate Change to achieve the higher level of energy security and sustainable development. The year 2010 has been a significant period in India's evolution as a country of global importance. The fact that the year ended with major world leaders visiting this country clearly shows that we are the focus of attention for the big powers which constitute the five permanent members of the Security Council. Significantly, leaders from all these five nations travelled to India during the year.
What is also very satisfying is the fact that India registered a very healthy rate of growth while many countries were struggling to register positive growth rates of even 2 per cent and continued to suffer unemployment rates which are unacceptably high.
But as we look towards the New Year in several respects 2011 represents a set of new opportunities, which we would be ignoring if we do not fully identify them and make the best use of them. In the energy sector, for instance, the world is moving to a distinctly different mix of consumption and supply. Growing concerns about energy security justify a substantial improvement in the efficiency of energy use and a shift towards renewable energy sources, simply because not only would fossil fuels cause serious environmental problems at the local level, but also add to questions of security of supply, particularly for India with our growing import dependence on fossil fuels.
Additionally, India would certainly be under pressure at the global level to control its emissions of greenhouse gases, even though historically India hardly contributed to the enormous growth in the concentration of these gases which has taken place since industrialization began in the countries of the developed world.
Keeping all these in mind the government has taken a long term and enlightened view, which blends our commitment to sustainable development with responsibility for dealing with the challenge of climate change in coming up with the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). Underlying the NAPCC is also an attempt to achieve a higher level of energy security. However, the progress in implementing the NAPCC is still not tangible, and this is an area on which government, business and industry as well as civil society must focus during 2011. The Prime Minister announced the contours of the NAPCC on June 30, 2008. It is, therefore, time that we got down on a collective basis and with the involvement of multiple stakeholders towards implementing the provisions of this plan effectively.
To achieve desirable results will require a substantial amount of institutional innovation and reforms of some structures within the government that are directly involved in the implementation of the NAPCC. For instance, the country has set itself an ambitious target of 20,000 MW of solar based power generating capacity, which must come in place in almost the next 10 years. This is a gigantic task which requires innovative institutional arrangements to implement. What is also needed is a massive effort to involve not only the Central Government but also those at the level of states and districts down to the level of local government. To bring about use of solar energy and higher levels of energy efficiency in buildings, for instance, local government has to be part of building standards and codes and their effective enforcement.
In several other aspects of the NAPCC also, if we are serious about meeting the impending challenge of energy security, the growing impacts of climate change and contributing to the solution of this challenge at the global level, the year 2011 must mark a turning point in the implementation of the NAPCC, the blueprint of which is a laudable effort on the part of the government. The comprehensive nature of the NAPCC requires intervention across the board, and that would, therefore, bring about an effective shift towards a more sustainable pattern of development. This is clearly an area which merits the highest attention in the New Year and the involvement of every section of society.
Let’s face it
27 Dec 2010 |
Dr Leena Srivastava
| The Financial Express
We provide a major push to renewable energy forms including solar but seem to have thrown distribution reforms out of the door. States have set up electricity regulatory commissions but they are struggling to define their relevance.
The suspicion that India's energy policy has been adrift has been around for some time. We continue to totter along providing a major push to rural electrification through the RGGVY programme while at the same time emphasizing a decentralized distributed approach to energy provision based on some artificial geographical distinctions between areas to be covered by these initiatives.
The environment minister's statement in Cancun expressing India's apparent willingness to accept greenhouse gas emission limitation targets at some time in the future has drawn a lot of criticism from both opposition parties in the government as well as environmental activists. Undoubtedly India will, sooner or later, have to take on emission reduction commitments. If the world was to agree to fully compensating, in financial terms, for historical responsibilities then the pressure on India to start moving to lower emissions trajectories could be immediate. The important point to bear in mind here is that we are no longer talking of 'if' but 'when' India will take on commitments. As such, the sooner India internalises the domestic implications of potential international commitments the lower will be its costs, and the world's costs, of adjustment in the future. The rest is negotiating for 'a few dollars more' - and rightfully so - at the international level.
Climate change considerations may be just the glue needed to hold India's energy policy making together. Spanning issues of energy efficiency and renewable energy while at the same time providing compensation to maintaining the health of the forest sector - while rendering coal as the least desirable fuel form - climate change commitments would force the government of India to consistently and constantly review its energy policies for resource effectiveness. Recent paper submissions by Teri, both internationally and domestically, have highlighted the radical transformations that would be required in our energy development pathways under alternate scenarios of climate commitments. The most recent presentation in Cancun has highlighted the limitations of public finance to both support these transformations directly as well as to leverage private finances for the purpose. While it is debatable whether climate actions would increase the medium to long term costs of delivery of energy and related services, it is more certain that the initial investment costs in energy and transport infrastructures will be manifold higher. How India bargains away its rights to emissions is going to be critically important to its ability to absorb the costs of climate action.
Lighting a Billion Lives, a measurable initiative
27 Dec 2010 |
Mr Rajiv Chhibber
| The Financial Express
In the early 90', when the term CSR (corporate social responsibility) became a part of corporate India' lexicon, most Indian companies looked at it as a new term for an old practice - making donations to good causes or support communities around their factories. At the same time knowledge institutions like TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) were of the view that CSR is multilayered, and there are activities beyond the normal that could be pursued by companies. That was perhaps one of the earliest calls in India to advocate CSR as an integral business principle.
Since then TERI' remit has included providing advice to companies on sustainability and sustainable development - technologies and the approaches that they should adopt to improve their profitability, competitiveness, and market share - without compromising resources for future generations and also to meet the challenges of climate change, which is bound to have a toll if steps are not taken in advance. In 2000, we set up the TERI Business Council for Sustainable Development India, an independent and select platform for corporate leaders to address issues related to sustainable development, which now has evolved into a strong industry body of 106 members coming from diverse sectors including PSUs, MNCs and private sector companies from across India. The focus - to guide the Indian corporate diaspora and encouraging businesses to develop a vision of a sustainable company, translate that vision into a management action plan and turn sustainability into a competitive advantage, hence changing the way companies see CSR as a new wine in the old community-development-and-corporate-philanthropy.
In the year 2007, while conducting its own research and study on socio-economic conditions and technological opportunities, TERI realized that 400 million people in India today have no access to electricity, and the global population was 1.6 billion worldwide. Tragically, it is very unlikely that the current generation among these deprived 1.6 billion would ever receive electricity in their homes. Against this background the initiative "Lighting a Billion Lives" was launched. This is based on the use of solar lanterns specially designed and manufactured on a decentralized basis. Typically, this activity is centered around one person in a village, usually a woman, who is able to charge a number of solar lanterns using a solar panel during the day and rents them out to all the villagers at night. The entire village benefits from clean, pollution-free lighting, which enhances their incomes and wellbeing. Over the last two years, the initiative has succeeded in illuminating around 30,000 households or 1, 50,000 lives spread over 560 villages across 16 states in India.
Today, Lighting a Billion Lives is a unique and measurable sustainability initiative that effectively demonstrates how Public-Private-People partnerships easily support rural schemes mooted by the government, particularly in the areas of health, education, environment, women' empowerment as well as rural development. The campaign has support from PSU' and corporates, among its various partners to aid the execution of the program at the scale at which it exists today, while providing the corporates with CSRs and other strategic benefits.
Some of the key projects that have been taken up by PSU' and Corporates towards Lighting a Billion Lives are:
1. Lighting up a KGBV establishment under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan: Setting example of public-private partnership for a social cause, the Lighting a Billion Lives campaign commissioned a Solar Charging Station in a residential school at Podi Uproda village in the Korba district of Chattisgarh, under the sponsorship support of NTPC. The residential school has been set-up by the government under the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) scheme. The objective of KGBV is to ensure access and quality education to the girls of disadvantaged groups of society by setting up residential schools with boarding facilities at elementary level. KGBV tries to target the significant gaps in the enrolment of girls at the elementary level reaching out to the most excluded groups of children. The provisioning of solar lanterns at the residential schools established specifically under KGBV scheme of GoI has ensured availability of safe and environment friendly source of light (in the form of solar lanterns) after dusk. This has also helped in eliminating the dependence of these young girls on kerosene lit lamps which poses threats to their safety and health. The solar lanterns have also helped the tribal students in overcoming the impediments to learning and gaining knowledge that these young girls have to face due to non-availability or erratic supply of electricity after dusk.
2. Promoting innovative financing of solar charging stations: Lighting a Billion Lives entered into strategic partnership with YES Bank Limited to expand the reach of the campaign. As part of the collaboration, YES Bank shall work with TERI towards promotion of the campaign in two specific areas of partnership, namely design and implementing a scaleable semi-commercial business model for financing solar charging stations and developing fundraising programs/products at YES Bank for grant support to initiative. To begin with, the semi-commercial business model, being developed by TERI and YES Bank, will be piloted across 2-3 villages with divergent socio-economic conditions. Going ahead, YES Bank shall provide financing for at least 50 solar charging stations during the year and market the financing product to other financial institutions to support scaling up of the campaign in India. Earlier last month, RGVN (Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi) also announced its interest to draw synergies between its various livelihood programs and Lighting a Billion Lives.
3. Jagmag Desh Mera: In a bid to connect common people to the Lighting a Billion Lives initiative, Voltas partnered with the program. As part of this partnership, Voltas created a welfare fund called 'Jagmag Desh Mera Fund'. Anyone can participate in this movement and contribute by bringing home an energy-efficient Voltas Star Rated AC. Contribution could also be made from the savings in electricity bills. The funds collected were used to bring light to many villages.
4. Strategic Partnerships: Armed with the twin objectives of providing access to clean energy and enhancing the rural livelihood potential, Lighting a Billion Lives entered into a strategic partnership with leading sugar producer Mawana Sugars Ltd. and its sister concern Usha International Ltd. As part of this collaboration, stitching and sewing training would be extended to rural women at the Lighting a Billion Lives solar charging stations, in addition to the provision of solar lanterns. Two pilot villages have already been implemented in the Kaul village, which is around 2 kms from the Mawana Sugars Complex in Nanglamal (Meerut, Uttar Pradesh). While TERI is coordinating and monitoring the pilots at the central level, Mawana Sugars and Usha International are supervising the project at the village level.
Similarly leading photocopier company, Ricoh India joined hands with Lighting a Billion Lives to further channelize efforts in extending clean lighting to rural areas of India. The collaboration formalises sponsorship of at least 4 villages through an innovative scheme of exchanging old Ricoh photocopiers against new ones. The old photocopiers would be recycled by government approved recyclers and if possible, would be refurbished and donated to needy organizations by Ricoh. For each trade in, Ricoh would light up a family under the Lighting a Billion Lives initiative.
India Chapter of the IAA (International Advertising Association) chipped in along with media to create awareness about Lighting a Billion Lives and mobilize funds for the cause. Early last year in January, Water Consulting, a division of Mudra, was given the Creative Lantern award and was commissioned by the International Advertising Association to develop a print and TV campaign for the release. The response to this largest ever public service campaign attempted by the advertising industry helped in lighting up six villages thereby benefiting around 2000 lives.
The above are just a few of the numerous successful examples where one campaign has through enormous support from PSU' and corporates impacted thousands of lives. While corporates and PSU' may have utilized their CSR funds for the same, TERI is ensuring that the campaign, for long-term sustainability, has a high level ownership, with the ultimate aim of empowering communities to be informed, self-reliant, and able to manage their resources independently, which lead them to become agents of change for their own development. TERI not only has been successful in mobilizing resources for villagers, it created market based solutions in these villages, hence breaking the myth that CSR is just an 'investment strategy' devised to build an image, cultivate stakeholders and eventually push business. TERI' Lighting a Billion Lives program today is a pioneering model which showcases that strategy for developing a partnership and advocacy with the business sector must be carried out through evoking compassion, consideration and commitment as a good corporate citizen.