I
n the industrial town of Morbi in Gujarat, the air usually hums with the roar of gas-fired kilns producing millions of square metres of ceramic tiles. Today, however, a quarter of those kilns are cold. Nearly a thousand kilometres away in Ludhiana, Punjab, the textile hubs that clothe a third of India are facing a similar paralysis. The reason is geopolitical.
As the conflict between the U.S. and Iran intensifies, the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most vital oil and gas artery, has turned into a gauntlet. India imports nearly half of its natural gas and immediately felt the pinch — rendered more painful by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, slashing gas allocations to non-priority industrial sectors to just 65-80% of their contracted volumes.
The need for thermal independence
For the manufacturers in Morbi and Ludhiana who began experimenting with new energy models years ago, the present crisis must be a moment of validation as they accelerate towards concentrated solar thermal (CST) technology and the large-scale electrification of heat. For others, however, it can seem like an ultimatum to fast-track decarbonisation and, for India overall, a reminder that it needs thermal independence, i.e. a ‘sovereign’ source of heat, rather than just energy independence.
