Indian industry uses energy more intensively than is the norm in industrialized countries. While selected modern Indian units often display very high efficiency that approaches world best practice levels, the average intensity lags world best levels. Indian industry has undergone a transformation since 1991, the year the economy was opened to foreign investment and competition. Energy per unit of valued added in the industrial sector has declined since then. However, there still remains considerable scope for continued improvement of energy efficiency in Indian industry, and for learning from both worldwide and Indian best practices.

This scoping study assesses the intensity of energy use in Indian industry, identifies national and worldwide best practice energy intensity levels, and on the basis of the above assessment provides guidance on areas for improving energy efficiency. This work focuses on five energy-intensive industrial sectors -- fertilizers, textiles, chlor-alkali, cement, and petroleum refining. The intent of the scoping study is to increase knowledge and sector-specific understanding about industrial energy use in order to assist Indian industry, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, and concerned stakeholders in efforts to improve energy efficiency in this sector in the country.

The approach used involves assessing the current trends in output and value added in Indian industry, energy use by fuel type and electricity use in the above sectors, and indicators of energy intensity. In addition, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) assessed the types of energy conservation measures that industry could adopt to improve efficiency, and compared these with worldwide best practices in each of the above sectors. It is recognized that cement and chlor-alkali sectors have limited numbers of technologies and are easier to assess, while fertilizers and refining are more difficult because of more complex plants, and finally textiles is even more difficult because of the large numbers of plants in the unorganized sector and the diversity of processes used.