There are no transparent figures for the costs involved in implementing the energy aspect of this deal. With the target being 40,000MW, estimates begin at Rs 300,000 crore. But in the popular obsession with oil, what has remained unreported is that the price of uranium has gone up four times than crude in the same period. There is a cartel of uranium suppliers appearing, and they are in a position to toss out all planning and costing.
The only fuels that have no such prices are renewables. Government figures show that without solar energy, India’s renewable energy potential is above 1,200,000 MW. Solar energy alone is available at 20 MW per sq/km. The future lies in tapping this resource. At today’s technology levels the costing would be less than a fourth of the nuclear deal.
The new economic theory believes that India can be energy secure by having an international agreement that is entirely import-driven. How imports can enhance India’s energy security is a theory that defies reason. So much for Gandhiji’s idea of ‘swadeshi’.
