Role of information and communication technology in economic progress and increasing demand for renewable energy: evidence from China and India

ABSTRACT This paper intends to know the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on the economic progress and renewable energy consumptions in two Asian economic giants namely India and China. To achieve the objectives, generalised method of moments (GMM) and pooled ordinary least square (OLS), fixed effect and random effect models have been applied using yearly panel data of individuals using internet as ICT, growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) as economic progress, electric power consumption as energy consumptions and foreign direct investment (FDI). This study observes significantly positive impact of ICT on renewable energy consumptions while negative and insignificant impact on the economic progress in India and China. It is observed that countries are similar in renewable energy expansion, time spent on internet, electricity generation and policy support for renewable energy generation while they significantly differ in the number of internet subscribers, internet-based entrepreneurships and sources of renewable energy. This study proposes to apply ICT in all possible sectors to boost-up economic growth as well as to enhance the demand for renewable energy consumptions.