At a recent seminar, chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian drastically under-estimated coal’s hidden or external costs, using a 2013 estimate of $4.6 billion, which was based on the contribution of 121 gigawatts of coal power to air pollution.
India now has nearly 200GW of coal.
Both coal and renewables receive a variety of tax and policy sops, but only one sector has been allowed to indiscriminately dump its waste in our air, rivers, seas and farmlands for decades at no cost.
The claim that India is suffering from ‘carbon imperialism’ is a throwback to outdated justifications for climate inaction.
The World Bank estimated in 2013 that India loses 5.7% of GDP due to environmental degradation.
The ministry of agriculture estimates that climate change is already costing Indian agriculture over $10 billion every year, and could lead to a 40% loss in agricultural productivity by 2100.
The costs from increasingly severe floods, storms, coastal erosion, climate-induced migration and so on are massive and rising.
The counter to carbon imperialism is clean electricity for all, ensuring that the benefits of the clean energy economy are equitably distributed.
Subramanian bafflingly argues for another surge in coal construction.
Sinking more money into a dying coal sector will only ensure that India loses the clean energy race to competitors, while sacrificing the health and quality of life of millions.