Trends and Patterns of Energy Consumption in India

Energy has been universally recognized as one of the most important inputs for economic growth and human development. There is a strong two-way relationship between economic development and energy consumption. On one hand, growth of an economy, with its global competitiveness, hinges on the availability of cost-effective and environmentally benign energy sources, and on the other hand, the level of economic development has been observed to be dependent on the energy demand (EIA, 2006). Using trend analysis and regression techniques, the study finds that there is positive relationship between total primary energy consumption to GDP, population, and per capita energy consumption, however a negative relationship do exist between the energy use and the production of the energy resources in case of India. We can summarize that total primary energy use is one of the key components of the GDP. Population is an important factor for the total primary energy consumption and one of the major contributors for the demand of more energy resources. Per capita energy consumption in the economy has a positive relationship with the total energy use and hence it is one of the important factors of the total energy consumption. As evidence from the developing countries more the nation develops economically, the demand for energy resources also increases. Our findings also suggests in the same direction, as increase in GDP, Population, Per capita consumption leads to more demand of energy resources.