Sufficiency in Indian Public Policy

In the traditional GDP-oriented economic sense, India is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world (external link). A recent press release from the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting shows that GDP growth is expected to reach 6.7% in the year (external link). India’s energy demand is rising rapidly, fuelled by this so-called economic growth, with the increasing need for cooling in light of more frequent and intense heat waves. In 2024, coal production hit record highs to meet (external link) surging electricity demand driven by another year of extreme summer heat (external link).

Then how is it that 65% of Indian households still experience some level of energy poverty (external link)?

The reality is that the story of economic growth in India rests on heightened poverty and inequality. It is, as Amit Bhaduri puts it, “predatory growth” that has relied on natural resource exploitation, including the theft of indigenous (Adivasi) lands. While India has been witnessing a high GDP growth rate of about 7-8 per cent, regular employment growth has barely crossed 1 per cent, meaning economic growth is being driven not by an expansion in employment, but by increased output per worker. (external link) As you go from the poorest to the richest Indian families, yearly spending per person increases 17 times. Luxury spending makes up a big chunk of this (external link).

The country is also home to 190 million hungry people, despite being the world’s largest food producer (external link).

Some indicators even show that the Indians are facing higher rates of income inequality than under British colonial rule, with India now home to the third highest number of billionaires in the world (external link). A great chunk of this billionaire wealth is fossil fuel-related (external link), all while Indians face climate disasters like never before (external link). Data shows that 3,472 people died in India from extreme weather events (external link). Disasters are also rooted in the growth model that India followed, as seen in the floods in the Himalayas (external link). 

Accordingly, the Indian government must put policies in place that tread the line between socio-economic development and meeting people’s needs with appropriate satisfiers (external link). A sufficiency-based public policy approach that avoids the demand for resources while prioritising well-being for all within planetary boundaries is well-positioned as a solution (external link). It can be leveraged as a tool to battle the stark inequalities India is witnessing while also challenging current neoliberal models of development that prioritise wealth accumulation (external link).

A sufficiency-led economy, functioning within sufficiency corridors guided by planetary boundaries, and eudaimonic well-being would eliminate the possibility of extraction and exploitation that India is suffering. It would also tackle the economic expansionist principles that leave citizens to grapple with the worst of climate disasters (external link).

Many traditional Indian communities already practice some forms of sufficiency, without calling it so (external link). In fact, the nexus of caste, class and Western influences on society is what (external link) has led to the current inequalities and overconsumption as seen among higher-income groups (external link). In an attempt to eradicate systemic inequalities, sufficiency policies should also consider social inequalities like caste, religion, gender and other pervasive issues in India that have led to poor standards of living for so many (external link).