Gujarat tops Niti Aayog’s State Energy & Climate Index Round I

• Gujarat, Kerala, and Punjab have been ranked as the top three performers in the category of larger states
• Goa, emerged as the top-performing state in the smaller states category, followed by Tripura, and Manipur

New Delhi: Gujarat has topped the Niti Aayog's State Energy and Climate Index-Round I, key findings of a report released by the think tank on Monday showed. The index ranked the states' performance on six parameters — DISCOMs' performance, access, affordability and reliability of energy, clean energy initiatives, energy efficiency, environmental sustainability and new initiatives. The parameters were further divided into 27 indicators. Based on the composite SECI Round I score, the states and UTs were categorised into three groups — Front Runners, Achievers, and Aspirants.

State Energy & Climate Index: Kerala rated no 2, Punjab no 3

Gujarat, Kerala, and Punjab have been ranked as the top three performers in the category of larger states. Goa, emerged as the top-performing state in the smaller states category, followed by Tripura, and Manipur. Among UTs, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Daman and Diu/Dadra and Nagar Haveli were the top performers. Detailed state profiles and scorecards have been included in the report which provides a comprehensive snapshot of each state and union territory on the various parameters. The index released by Niti Aayog ranked 28 states and seven Union Territories. 

"This edition of the report reveals that some of the important data is not available at the state level. There is a need to develop a robust mechanism for capturing such data so that it can be incorporated in future editions of the report," said Niti Aayog.

'Role of states critical in achieving COP-26 targets'

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Rajiv Kumar, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman, said that there is a need to convert our efforts towards achieving the 'Panchamrit' targets announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the COP-26, Glasgow, into a peoples' movement. In order to do this, the role of the states is going to be critical, he said. Governance innovation and mutual learning by states shall go a long way in improving outcomes and the State Energy & Climate Index Round I is the right step in this direction.

Dr VK Saraswat, NITI Aayog Member, remarked that synergy and partnership among the Centre and the states will be critical for achieving energy and climate-related goals and making the country self-reliant in the energy sector. He said that after extensive discussions with stakeholders, several key parameters have been identified to track and rank the performance of the states in this report.

Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said that achieving the ambitious climate targets would require a conducive policy environment to encourage investment. He also remarked that the State Energy & Climate Index Round-I will help initiate a dialogue with the states on the energy sector so that much required policy improvements can be made.

Role of discoms paramount: Power Secretary

Appreciating the work taken up by NITI Aayog for coming out with State Energy & Climate Index, Power Secretary Alok Kumar stressed that clean energy transition is inevitable. The role of DISCOMs is paramount and their viability is the crux, he said. He pointed out that regulatory assets at the same time need to be liquidated which is making DISCOMs unviable.

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