By Shruti Sethiya

“Sustainable development of one-sixth of humanity will be of great consequence to the world and our beautiful planet. It will be a world of fewer challenges and greater hope; and, more confident of its success.”  (Source : UN India Digital Library)

As quoted by PM Narendra Modi at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in 2015, the Indian subcontinent recognises that sustainable development goals play a crucial role in development of the country. 

With establishing and entrusting NITI Aayog, the premier policy think tank of India, the SDGs have been well incorporated within the heart and mind of the nation. One such SDG that contributes largely to Indian economic growth is SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy which aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. 

This is where we see a push toward renewable energy sources, which hold the key to achieving sustainable development goals in India.

Lets dive into the many Government initiatives for renewable sector energy that will help reach sustainable development India goals. 

From the Ministry’s Desk

The abridged vision and mission of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is how India is committed to advancing renewable energy technologies and achieving energy security. With an aim to be a net foreign exchange earner, India plans to develop and deploy cutting-edge technologies, fuels and energy solutions that meet with the international standards for sustainable development. 

MNRE’s focus on the alternative fuels, clean power, energy availability, affordability and equity forms a crucial base that is narrowing the gap between the domestic supply and demand. As a developing nation, India formulates looking ahead policies and hence aspires to achieve per-capita energy consumption at par with global average driven by sustainable fuel mix by 2050.

Government Initiatives and Policies for the Renewable Energy 

The Government of India proactively takes part at the sustainable development front of the country, by drafting and working on the policies supporting the SDGs. Some policies of matter for SDG 7 i.e Affordable and Clean Energy are discussed comprehensively below :- 

PMUY {Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yoajana}

Launched in May 2016 by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MOPNG), PMUY is aimed at providing clean cooking fuel such as LPG to the rural and deprived households. These households utilised the traditional cooking fuels like firewood, coal, cow-dung cakes etc, having detrimental and adverse impacts on the health of the rural women, also polluting and degrading the environment. This flagship scheme delves into the Target 7.1 of SDG 7, ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy by the year 2030. 

The scheme was launched on 1st May, 2016 and targeted to release 8 crore LPG Connections to the deprived households by March 2020. 

PMUY 1.0 aimed to empower 50 million women members from below-poverty-line households by providing them with LPG connections. 

PMUY 1.0 led to an increase in the LPG coverage from 61.9% to 99.5% from 2016 – 2021, making India ready for PMUY 2.0 that will further help the nation to step closer to achieving 100% LPG coverage. 

The policy has cultivated favoured results leading to reduction in ambient air pollution and forest degradation. It also ensured increased women participation in formal economic activities generating additional jobs. Switching to cleaner and greener fuels have also lessened the premature deaths and morbidity that was caused due to the indoor air pollution. 

To avail PMUY visit: https://www.pmuy.gov.in/ujjwala2.html

PM KUSUM  {Pradhan Mantri Kisna Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahaahiyaan}

The PM KUSUM policy that was launched in March 2019, and further scaled up in November 2020 points out on providing affordable and accessible power to farmers in the form of solar energy. For this very purpose the government looks forward to adding solar capacity of 30,800 MW by 2022 with financial support of Rs. 34,422 crore. The three components of the scheme are: 

Component A: This delves into details of setting up Solar energy-based power plants (SEPP) of capacity 500kW to 2MW by individual farmers, groups of farmers, cooperatives and panchayats. Incase of equity problems, they can opt for developers or DISCOMs (conditions applied). 

Component B: This helps the individual farmers located in off grid areas to install standalone solar agriculture pumps with a capacity up to 7.5 HP. The State Government confirms at least a 30% subsidy while the remaining at most 40% will be provided by farmers. 

Component C is broken into two parts:

  1. Individual Pump Solarisation: Individual farmers who are equipped with grid connected agriculture pumps will be provided support via solarise pumps therefore enabling the farmer to use solar energy to meet irrigation needs and at the same time the excess solar power is to be sold to DISCOMs. 
  2. Feeder Level Solarisation: Under this use of agriculture feeders are solarised instead of installing individual solar pumps. Solar plants that meet the need of agriculture load of the chosen feeder are installed via CAPEX / RESCO mode with a project period of 25 years.

To apply for PM KUSUM : 

  • Visit the official website of PM KUSUM and login with the reference number on the homepage of the portal. 
  • Once logged in, fill out the online application form to take the KUSUM Solar Pump. 
  • Next, click on the apply button, upon which the farmer will be redirected to the registration page and the application for KUSUM Yojana will be displayed. 
  • Fill the application with all the necessary details and click submit after completion to complete the registration process which will be followed by a “Successfully Registered” message. 

BIOGAS PROGRAMME 

The Biogas programme extends its vision from setting up biogas plants for clean cooking fuel to meeting thermal and small power needs of consumers, corroborating GHG reduction, women empowerment, better sanitation and employment generation in rural regions. Moreover, it also promotes biogas-based Decentralised Renewable Energy Sources for heating or cooling applications using biogas as the prime source. 

Salient features that constitute to the programme include: 

  • Funds allocation by MNRE for installation of biogas plants to all State Implementing Agencies under Biogas Programme.
  • 8 Biogas Development and Training Centres (BDTCs) are bestowing technical and training, Field Inspections and information to the State Programme Implementing Agencies. 
  • Moreover, the medium sized biogas plants in NER, Island and Registered Gaushalas are given an additional subsidy of 20 %. 
  • Various training courses like Construction-cum-Maintenance, Refresher Training Courses, User’s Courses, Staff Training Courses etc are also put in place to impart knowledge and skill. 
  • For registration visit : https://biogas.mnre.gov.in/about-the-programmes

SATAT INITIATIVE {Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation}

This scheme was launched on 1st October, 2018 and elaborates on Compressed Bio Gas (CBG). This initiative manages the biomass efficiently thereby promoting CBG as an alternative green transport fuel. It envisages the target production of 15 million tons of CBG by the year 2023 generated from 5000 plants. The SATAT Initiative focuses to produce compressed biogas (CBG) using the waste and biomass sources such as agricultural residue, cow-dung, sewage plant waste and municipal solid waste.

The scheme provides for better and effective use of agriculture residue including animal husbandry and marine waste as well and in consideration with the amount of biomass generated in India, CBG has proved to be a potential replacement of CNG (compressed natural gas). 

SATAT Initiative offers a streamlined solution to reducing the dependency on fossil natural gas, ensuring increased energy security and greater utilisation of the organic waste and lower emissions, contribution to the sustainable development India goals.  

By deploying this scheme into action, India is avoiding the use of fossil natural gas and is shifting to sustainable options of treating and utilising the organic waste; contributing to sustainable development. 

To apply for SATAT INITIATIVE : 

  • Expression of Interest (EOI) : These are floated every month and the interested entrepreneurs are required to submit their EOI on the IndianOil e-Tendering portal. 
  •  Letter of Intent (LOI) : After an evaluation of the EOIs, the respective oil and gas company will issue the Letter of Intent to the applicants whose EOIs get qualified.
  • Once the LOIs are accepted, the applicants are required to submit a bank guarantee for safeguarding OMC investments towards retailing of the CBG. 
  • Signing the Commercial Agreement : Upon submitting the bank guarantee, a retail outlet will be finalised with the mutual consent of both the parties and a commercial agreement will be signed as well.  

Certain other initiatives undertaken by the Indian Government for Renewable Energy Sector cover the following actions :-

  • BIOENERGY PROMOTION : The government actively promotes the use of biofuels and biomass power by positioning various initiatives which include Ethanol Blending Program, obligating the blending of ethanol with petrol as per the National Policy on Biofuels.
  • GREEN ENERGY CORRIDORS : For contributing to the long term energy security of India, the government has put in place the development of Green Energy Corridors that are the dedicated transmission lines for renewable power which aims to provide synchronised electricity.
  • GREENING INITIATIVES IN THE COAL SECTOR : Coal and Lignite PSUs have, over the years, been adopting greening measures to mitigate the polluting effects of mining and related activities. These measures include returning the land disturbed by mining to stable and productive post-mining land uses, fundamental to achieving sustainable development goals in India. Private players in the mining sector too have followed suit.
  • NET METERING AND FEED-IN TARIFFS : To increase and encourage the use of rooftops solar installations which allow the consumers to sell the excess electricity back to the grid, many states have set in motion the net metering and feed-in tariffs.
  • PRODUCTION LINKED INCENTIVE : By implementing this scheme, the government aims to achieve higher efficiency for the solar PV modules in India, so as to reduce the import dependency on the renewable energy sources.
  • TAX INCENTIVES : As it is in knowledge of the Indian government that tax incentives play a crucial role in the energy sector, the government has worked through tax credits, accelerated depreciation and exemptions support as promoting the renewable energy adoption and promoting sustainable environment.  

With all these initiatives, strategies and policies, India, even as a developing nation, is pushing to achieve sustainable development goals. We continue to innovate and invest in policies, technology, and practices to achieve SDG India. 

The Government Is Not Alone

Corporate India plays a complimentary role in amplifying the government’s push to achieve sustainable development goals. By aligning its strategies with the government’s initiatives for renewable energy, major corporations are focusing their investments on renewable energy projects. Companies across various sectors are ambitiously planning goals to achieve better and greener results reducing the carbon footprints by incorporating various renewable sources like wind, solar and biomass. 

Furthermore, many organisations delve into partnerships undertaking actions in accordance with the renewable energy solutions. New start-ups are deploying innovative technologies to scale up their production game by switching to better and sustainable operations. Businesses are increasingly recognising the essence of corporate social responsibility and hence are leveraging the financial resources and expertise to drive positive changes across the various sectors.

We explore this in future articles.

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The article was written using data compiled from: