End of the road? A recent conference in Delhi by The Energy and Resources Institute and the Khemka Foundation discussed energy security and the future of oil and gas supplies in India. It was clear that energy security is not about mere power generation or discovering oil, but about alternative sources, tariffs, conservation, foreign policies, and so on. India uses much non-commercial energy. This will reduce as the economy develops. India is and will in the foreseeable future be excessively dependent on high ash-producing domestic coal for generating power. India also has a growing dependence on imported crude oil though gas dependence will reduce due to large domestic discoveries. Heavy subsidies to some customer groups, high theft of power, incompetence in the power system, inefficient use of power, uneven consumption over the day, leading to waste of power, little incentive for conservation, and lack of leadership to persuade the public that they must pay for the power they use