Ashoka University Energy Policy in India

Young India Fellowship 2019-2020

State Energy Strategy Policy Note

Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is to have you write a policy advisory note to the Minister of Energy of a
state government of your choice. In the process, you will learn about how policy writing differs from
academic economic writing.

Instructions
1. Pick a state in India. Ideally, this will be a state which has an up to date website for its energy
institutions (Energy Department, State Electricity Regulatory Commission, Discoms, etc.).
Picking state which has good government reports and official energy statistics may also make
your work a little easier.

2. The first part of your note (~1-2 pages), should summarize the energy history of the state, and its
current energy mix. Have there been any major transitions in energy use in the last twenty years?
How is this reflected in the larger macroeconomic changes in the state (eg. agriculture vs.
manufacturing vs. services)?

3. The second part of your note (~1-2 pages) should identify a few (2-3) key vulnerabilities in the
state’s current energy policy. Is there excessive regional dependence in procurement? How bad is
the power situation in the state? Does most of the state’s population use modern cooking fuels?
These will be highly dependent on the state you choose, and whether they are a net importer or
exporter of energy products. The point here is not to list out vulnerabilities, but to take the most
important ones and flesh out why their long-term effects will be problematic. Contact us early if
you are struggling to find material on your chosen state. Sometimes it may be easier to pick
a bigger state

4. The final part of your note (~2-3 pages) should identify 2-3 essential policy actions which the
current Minister of Energy should take, with strong policy/economic justifications for each. These
should address the vulnerabilities you identified in the previous part. What are the benefits of the
actions you are suggesting? What are potential negative consequences? Has this worked in other
countries? Will this action have short-term or long-term benefits? Is there an obvious group that
these actions will tend to privilege?

Most of your arguments should be supported by data from secondary sources. Consequently, make sure
you are citing all your sources properly. It is okay to look at many sources (eg. CEA, Planning
Commission/Niti Aayog, MoSPI, regulatory documents, private consultancy reports, state government
reports etc.), and consolidate arguments; people in the policy world do this all the time since they rarely
have the time or knowledge for primary research. Expected word count 1000-1300 words [Individual]
and 2000-2200 words [Group].

Here is a good primer on how to write a good policy note/memo

( http://mitcommlab.mit.edu/broad/commkit/policy-memo/ ). I will also be including a sample assignment
(from one of my former students) for those who are concerned about structure. Please do not copy this
structure but use it more as a guideline for your own policy note/memo.

Due Date: Monday, June 1, must be in energypolicy@ashoka.edu.in inbox by mid

night