Reportage on a planet without equitable or sustainable development.
Why India’s GHG emissions are about to rise faster
This morning, Carbon Copy published the second – and concluding – part of my report on global fossil fuel companies making a beeline for India.
It is a development which comes with large fallouts. In the past, every time India liberalised a nationalised sector, private players have gained at the cost of public sector entities – think banking and telecom. As companies like Bharat Petroleum (and, perhaps, Hindustan Petroleum too) go up for sale – and firms like Indian Oil struggle to compete coz it has to also accommodate the state’s myriad populist demands –India’s energy sector is likely to see something similar. Other changes. Oil dividends to the centre will fall. Not to mention the multiple fallouts of a large chunk of India’s energy sector being controlled – yet again – by foreign firms.
And yet, the biggest elephant in the room is GHG emissions. What does the entry of foreign players – given their requirements, lobbying power and local alliances — mean for India’s emissions and energy transition? Today’s report takes a look at that question.
I am an Indian journalist with interests in energy, environment, climate and India’s ongoing slide into right-wing authoritarianism. My book, Despite the State, an examination of pervasive state failure and democratic decay in India, was published by Westland Publications, India, in January 2021. My work has won the Bala Kailasam Memorial Award; the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award; and five Shriram Awards for Excellence in Financial Journalism. Write to me at despitethestate@protonmail.com.
“Westland closure: Titles that are selling fast and a few personal recommendations,” by Chetana Divya Vasudev, Moneycontrol. (Because this happened too. In February, a year after DtS was released, Amazon decided to shutter Westland, which published the book. The announcement saw folks rushing to buy copies of Westland books before stocks run out.)
Fractured/Earth 
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