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Sustainable Energy Technology and Policies pp 229–255Cite as

National Mission on Bio-Diesel in India (2003): An Assessment Based on Strategic Niche Management

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Abstract

Rapid economic growth, rising connectivity and increased mobility means increased demand for transportation fuel. Like the rest of the world, India’s hydrocarbon demand in the mobility domain continues to rise and is a major cause for concern given the implications concerning greenhouse gas emissions. Assuming the country’s energy demand maintains its present trajectory, it is predicted, that by 2030 India will have to import about 94% of its crude oil consumption. The Indian government introduced the National Mission on Biodiesel in 2003 and subsequently promulgated the National Policy on Biofuels in 2009. The policy proposes an indicative target of 20% blending of biofuels—both bio-diesel and bio-ethanol, by 2017. The availability of feedstock crops, the presence of a large sugar industry and favourable climatic conditions for plants like Jatropha carcus is conducive for producing bio-fuels in the country. Despite these policy initiatives, in 2017 it was clear that the bio-diesel is yet to become a popular alternative fuel in the mobility sector in India. The present paper deploys the strategic niche management framework to understand the policy attempts and observed lag in this experiment of bio-diesel mission. Within the framework of transitions literature, the study aims at presenting the findings from the process tracing study of the Indian experimentation on bio-diesel since inception. It investigates as to what extent the experiment has been embedded in the incumbent mobility regime. This study can offer an insight into the uniqueness of challenges in up-scaling any experiment that aims at transforming the hydrocarbon dominated mobility sector in India.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The process started with the publication of the report of the expert committee on development of biofuels under the aegis of the Planning Commission, Government of India.

  2. 2.

    Particularly, the following goals—1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 13.

  3. 3.

    Transport accounts for 7% of the national GHG emission [23].

  4. 4.

    The average annual growth rate of Import price of crude oil in India (in USD/bbl) during 2002–03 to 2010–11 is 17.17%. The peak value of the annual growth rate is 42.11% in 2005–06

  5. 5.

    While the literature on sustainability transitions define sustainability gains in terms of environmental gains (see [6]), in the developing country contexts the other pillars of sustainable development (economy and society) are no less important. For the purpose of this article, we adopt the concept of sustainability gains comprising of all three pillars of sustainable development.

  6. 6.

    For a literature review please see Timilsina and Shreshtha [54]

  7. 7.

    As of 2015, the blending rate is 2.3%. This is way below the target rate.

  8. 8.

    The correlation is observed in their study in the state of Tamil Nadu. The differences in median survival rates are found to be statistically significant at 1% level.

  9. 9.

    This would also benefit the large and affluent farmers.

  10. 10.

    The calculations are made under an assumption that the life of the plant is 20 years.

  11. 11.

    Some researchers have termed this as the “other food crisis”.

  12. 12.

    Bio-ethanol is also accorded the same status.

  13. 13.

    The provision is subject to the fact that the biofuel produced is entirely consumed within the country.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Dutch Research Foundation (WOTRO-NWO) which had funded the integrated programme on “Experimenting for Sustainability in India and Thailand: a transitions perspective on sustainable electricity and mobility initiative.” This article is a part of the WOTRO-NWO funded research programme at Global Change Programme of Jadavpur Unversity. Prof. Rob Raven initiated this research programme from University of Technology, Eindhoven in The Netherlands. The authors would like to acknowledge with thanks the insightful discussions over the project period with Prof. Rob Raven (currently with Utrecht University) and comments from participants at the conference on the topic presented at University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands held in January, 2013. The usual disclaimer applies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Global Change Research, Kolkata, India

    Duke Ghosh

  2. Department of Economics, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India

    Joyashree Roy

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

    Sudipta De

  2. Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

    Santanu Bandyopadhyay

  3. Natural Gas Technology, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway

    Mohsen Assadi

  4. Board of Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

    Deb A Mukherjee

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Ghosh, D., Roy, J. (2018). National Mission on Bio-Diesel in India (2003): An Assessment Based on Strategic Niche Management. In: De, S., Bandyopadhyay, S., Assadi, M., Mukherjee, D. (eds) Sustainable Energy Technology and Policies. Green Energy and Technology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8393-8_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8393-8_10

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