A hornet’s nest could be an apt simile for fossil fuel prices in India. Over years a policy maze has evolved around it, with sharply diverging influence on disparate constituencies. Estimate the increase in total cost of farming as a multiple of direct input costs of fossil fuels in farming.
Multi-pronged initiatives are envisaged for the India: Hydrocarbon Vision-2025 with principal objectives to: ensure oil security, improve customer service, develop a competitive industry, enhance quality of life, and assure energy security.
Studies relating to subsidies, where these could be safely formulated in the context of international trade, often occupy centre-stage. Estimates of subsidies arising out of government policy/expenditure programme are relatively less well understood.
