Manmohan: economic pricing of energy
Tuesday, 14 December 2004, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stressed on an economic pricing policy for energy, observing sharply that subsidised electricity was being provided without proper analyses of its economic and social rationale. "At the heart of all these problems is the irrational pricing of energy," the prime minister said after giving away the National Energy Conservation Awards at the Vigyan Bhavan official conference complex here. "Without an economic pricing policy - albeit one that is sensitive to the social inequities and income disparities - it will not be possible for us to sincerely address the challenge of energy conservation." The prime minister also called for a national debate on economic utilisation of energy and the imperative of a rational pricing policy. "The rational and economic utilisation of scarce resources is a top national priority for us," he said. Manmohan Singh emphasised that such a multi-faceted approach should also be adopted in the pricing of all forms of energy, including petroleum, liquefied petroleum gas, kerosene, water and electricity. "The free supply of power in rural areas is the effect of not only encouraging excessive use of power when it is on offer but also encouraging the wasteful use of ground water," he said. In many parts of the country, ground water levels have been falling at an alarming pace and the excessive application of water is also encouraging irrational cropping pattern, he warned. According to the prime minister, almost 56.5 percent of India's rural households do not yet have access to electricity and in many states the figure was as high as 80-90 per cent of rural population. "The challenge before us is, therefore, to improve both the quality and quantity of supply simultaneously. The National Common Minimum Programme has set a target of complete electrification of all households in the next five years." The prime minister said in the last decade the government may also have placed the "cart before the horse" by encouraging private investment in generation without adequately addressing questions of pricing and distribution. He said the solution for this again was a rational pricing policy.
Source: IANS
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