Oil Sector: A Timely Blessing D R Pendse THE world saw two oil shocks in the 1970s. When the first came in 1973-74, many thinkers of undisputed competence saw it as an appalling prospect for countries like India. In fact, it set in motion a chain of forces which not only brought the Indian economy out of the tunnel but it helped the economy discover new strengths. The second oil shock in 1979 was deeper-rooted and severer, and brought to fore more prophets of doom. But various developments in India's oil sector, unexpected and unthought of when the oil shock came, have brought the economy once again on top of the shock, and have, this time, provided a much needed and timely support to some other weakening sectors of the economy. The energy crisis is far from over for India, but another battle is obviously won.
Implications for Third World D R Pendse Alt of us, more so in the Third World societies, need to ensure an orderly, energy transition. The two-pronged strategy to be adopted for this purpose will consist of: (i) Reducing rapidly out dependence on fossil-fuel energy sources and (ii) turning increasingly to technologies that blossom from renewable sources of energy.
January 14, 1984 sponsible for the rise in the index for 'manufactured products' this year compared to the slight fall last yean The consumer price index for industrial workers (1960
8 "India's Peace Drive", ibid, April
9 US News and World Report, LXXXII, No 3 (January 24, 1977),
10 Montreal Star, April 14, 1976.
11 Times of India, June 28, 1976; New York Times, November 18, 1976; Times of India, November
April 10,1970 granuning for the urban sector. Somesh Saha and Biman Mukherjee helped in statistical computations.] References Beckerman Wilfred (1066): "International Comparisons of Real Incomes", OECD, Paris.
