M R Bhagavan The planned investment by the Indian government in modern energy forms, i e, electricity, petroleum and coal, is massive at 30 per cent of the total outlay of the Seventh Five-Year Plan (1985-90), and the largest of any sector But the traditional forms of energy, on which the poor eighty per cent of the population depend almost entirely, get virtually nothing from the Seventh Plan outlay Clearly, the Indian State accords the very highest priority to a continuation of the rapid growth of the modern energy sector achieved during the first half of the present decade, whose benefits today accrue largely to the top 20 per cent of the population via modern industry, transport and other infrastructure serviced by modern energy forms. However, the Indian State has yet to spell out the concrete measures and instruments required for solving the many problems that beset the modern energy sector; massive investment alone will not be sufficient.