Reforming environmentally harmful energy subsidies will need to play a central role in moving the world onto a more sustainable development path. Consensus on the detrimental impact of rising fossil-energy consumption on climate change now calls for renewed attention and urgency of the reform process. This report summarises the issues and challenges in removing or modifying subsidies on energy that undermine the pursuit of sustainable development.

Nuclear energy will enable India to meet the twin challenges of energy security and environmental sustainability. It will also have major spin-offs for the development of the industries, both public and private. The 123 Agreement between India and United States of America would put an end to technology denial regimes against India that have been in place for three decades and end India's nuclear isolation. It will open the doors for India to have civil nuclear cooperation as an equal partner with the USA and the rest of the world.

This publication provides policy-makers and project personnel with tools to assess present energy flows and future energy scenarios. It uses a geographic information system to generate and manage data independently of political boundaries, integrating and analysing relationships among socio-economic and environmental variable and facilitates the identification of priority areas and population that deserve greatest attention in efforts to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).