IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/123086.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Rethinking the drivers of energy intensity in India’s Iron and Steel firms: The role of imported intermediates

Author

Listed:
  • Tandon, Anjali

Abstract

The improvements in energy intensity of India’s iron and steel industry despite the limited R and D expenditure, high cost of adapting technologies/fuel, and heavy dependence on coal-based process is intriguing. In attempting to understand the underlying drivers, this paper uses firm-level panel data to show that firms have improved their energy intensity through retrofitting of the existing production utilities and ‘brownfield’ installations in the form of technology extensions. The improvements are essentially on account of the use of imported capital goods/equipment rather than core R and D. For policy, this highlights critical dependence on imports of green goods in meeting the net-zero targets. The finding is used to call for technology transfers as part of brownfield installations, and policy interventions to support the domestic capital goods industry to reduce the dependency on imports. On the sidelines, the results also show that trade has a positive externality through supporting the environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Tandon, Anjali, 2024. "Rethinking the drivers of energy intensity in India’s Iron and Steel firms: The role of imported intermediates," MPRA Paper 123086, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2024.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:123086
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/123086/1/MPRA_paper_123086.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rachel Griffith & Stephen Redding & John Van Reenen, 2004. "Mapping the Two Faces of R&D: Productivity Growth in a Panel of OECD Industries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(4), pages 883-895, November.
    2. Eskeland, Gunnar S. & Harrison, Ann E., 2003. "Moving to greener pastures? Multinationals and the pollution haven hypothesis," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 1-23, February.
    3. Cole, Matthew A. & Elliott, Robert J.R. & Strobl, Eric, 2008. "The environmental performance of firms: The role of foreign ownership, training, and experience," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 538-546, April.
    4. Sagar, Ambuj D. & van der Zwaan, Bob, 2006. "Technological innovation in the energy sector: R&D, deployment, and learning-by-doing," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(17), pages 2601-2608, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Brucal, Arlan & Javorcik, Beata & Love, Inessa, 2019. "Good for the environment, good for business: Foreign acquisitions and energy intensity," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    2. Siewers, Samuel & Martínez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada & Baghdadi, Leila, 2024. "Global value chains and firms’ environmental performance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    3. Svetlana Batrakova & Ronald Davies, 2012. "Is there an environmental benefit to being an exporter? Evidence from firm-level data," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 148(3), pages 449-474, September.
    4. Hunjra, Ahmed Imran & Bouri, Elie & Azam, Muhammad & Azam, Rauf I & Dai, Jiapeng, 2024. "Economic growth and environmental sustainability in developing economies," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PA).
    5. Chen Fuzhong & Luo Ke & Dong Kangyin, 2024. "Functional Upgrading of Value Chains and the Carbon Emissions Reduction Embodied in China’s Exports: From the Perspective of the Improvement in the FDI Quality," China Finance and Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 13(4), pages 106-128.
    6. Sorroche-del-Rey, Yolanda & Piedra-Muñoz, Laura & Galdeano-Gómez, Emilio, 2023. "Interrelationship between international trade and environmental performance: Theoretical approaches and indicators for sustainable development," MPRA Paper 119918, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Natalia Zugravu-Soilita, 2017. "How does Foreign Direct Investment Affect Pollution? Toward a Better Understanding of the Direct and Conditional Effects," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 66(2), pages 293-338, February.
    8. Vona, Francesco, 2023. "Skills and human capital for the low-carbon transition in developing and emerging economies," FEEM Working Papers 338778, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    9. Imbruno, Michele & Ketterer, Tobias D., 2018. "Energy efficiency gains from importing intermediate inputs: Firm-level evidence from Indonesia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 117-141.
    10. Singhania, Monica & Saini, Neha, 2021. "Demystifying pollution haven hypothesis: Role of FDI," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 516-528.
    11. Doytch, Nadia & Uctum, Merih, 2016. "Globalization and the environmental impact of sectoral FDI," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 582-594.
    12. Duan, Yuwan & Jiang, Xuemei, 2021. "Pollution haven or pollution halo? A Re-evaluation on the role of multinational enterprises in global CO2 emissions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    13. Michele Imbruno & Alessia Lo Turco & Daniela Maggioni, 2023. "Energy Efficiency Gains From Multinational Supply Chains: Evidence From Turkey," Working Papers 477, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    14. Francesco Vona, 2023. "Skills and human capital for the low-carbon transition in developing and emerging economies," Working Papers 2023.19, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    15. Dardati, Evangelina & Saygili, Meryem, 2021. "Are exporters cleaner? Another look at the trade-environment nexus," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    16. Damien Dussaux & Francesco Vona & Antoine Dechezleprêtre, 2020. "Carbon Offshoring: Evidence from French Manufacturing Companies," Working Papers hal-03403069, HAL.
    17. Hao, Yu & Zhang, Tianli & Jing, Leijie & Xiao, Linqi, 2019. "Would the decoupling of electricity occur along with economic growth? Empirical evidence from the panel data analysis for 100 Chinese cities," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 615-625.
    18. Zheng Fang & Bihong Huang & Zhuoxiang Yang, 2020. "Trade openness and the environmental Kuznets curve: Evidence from Chinese cities," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(10), pages 2622-2649, October.
    19. Elliott, Robert J.R. & Sun, Puyang & Chen, Siyang, 2013. "Energy intensity and foreign direct investment: A Chinese city-level study," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 484-494.
    20. Damien Dussaux & Francesco Vona & Antoine Dechezleprêtre, 2023. "Imported carbon emissions: Evidence from French manufacturing companies," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(2), pages 593-621, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Energy; efficiency; iron and steel; retrofitting; research and development; India.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L6 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing
    • L61 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Metals and Metal Products; Cement; Glass; Ceramics

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:123086. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.