Abstract

India is faced with numerous and varied energy challenges. First, India has the largest number of people in the world without access to safe, modern and clean energy services. Second, while the Indian government is making efforts to expand energy access using available resources, it is also conscious of its international commitments to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions. In parallel, the Indian state is cautious of the geopolitical ramifications of relying on energy imports to fuel its growing needs. And finally, the country faces difficult and uncomfortable decisions at the intersection of energy security and environmental justice. These are manifest in the conflicts between civil society, private industry and state actors over the siting of large dams, location of nuclear power plants, and the dispossession of land and usufruct rights from indigenous communities who have lived for generations in forests atop coal deposits. The chapter navigates the reader through these complex challenges.