NEW DELHI: A purely market driven approach is not the best way to achieve energy security and government intervention has a role in ensuring larger public good, according to Spencer Dale, chief economist at the global energy major BP.
“What we know from economics is (that) pure markets, free markets don’t generate the optimal level of public good like energy security,” Dale said in response to a TOI question whether India needs more market freedom to speed up its journey towards energy independence.
Dale’s statement can be seen as an endorsement of the Centre’s policy of calibrating prices and market access, either directly in case of natural gas or indirectly through large state-run entities in case of motor fuels. Analysts have described such measures as dampeners for foreign investors.
