India is expected this week to stall developed countries’ attempts to include it in a commitment to curb greenhouse gas emissions, citing its low per-capita emissions and need for near double-digit growth to lift hundreds of millions out of poverty.

India’s government is promising “power for all” by 2012, but about 50 per cent of the country’s 1.1bn population lacks electricity, relying on firewood, dried cow-dung and other fuels for energy.