RK Singh recommits to this energy goal on National Energy Conservation Day

New Delhi: Ministry of Power celebrated the National Energy Conservation Day on Tuesday at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. On this occasion, Union Power Minister and MNRE RK Singh presented the 31st National Energy Conservation Awards (NECA), 1st National Energy Efficiency Innovation Awards (NEEIA) and prizes to the winners of the National Level Painting Competition on Energy Conservation. Singh was the chief guest on this occasion. Minister of State for Power Krishan Pal and Secretary (Power) Alok Kumar graced the occasion and addressed the gathering. CMDs of Power PSUs and senior officials from the Ministry of Power were also present at the event.

In his address, RK Singh said "One of the priorities of our government is to provide universal energy access at affordable prices and on a 24/7 basis. In the recent few years, India has made significant progress in village electrification and providing electricity connections to households".

Singh highlighted that in the Power sector, we have brought total transformation in the past five years by adding 142 GW generation capacity, connecting the entire country into one grid, and achieving the vision of one grid, one market. India has been transformed from an energy deficit to an energy surplus nation. The availability of Power in rural and urban areas has increased tremendously in comparison to 2014 said the minister. Power is available for a duration of close to 22 hours and close to 23.5 hours in rural and urban areas respectively.

The minister also said that the transformation is not just in capacity but also with respect to the energy mix, energy intensity and emission intensity. He informed that India has achieved the NDC target of having 40% energy production from non-fossil sources. This achievement has happened way in advance of our target date. We have one of the lowest per capita emissions in the world and in absolute terms, it comes to 3 percent of the total emissions.

Under the Gram Ujala Scheme, a target of 10 lakh LED bulbs have been distributed today in 5 states, for which the minister congratulated CESL. Distributed in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Telengana and Andhra Pradesh,  at a highly subsidized cost of Rs 10 rupees in exchange for working incandescent bulbs, it heralds immense saving of energy, as also saving for the consumer. He credited BEE on saving around 300 million tons of CO₂ by their various schemes like Perform, Achieve, Trade, (PAT). After the second round of PAT, we have achieved an emission reduction of 66 million tonnes per annum. We are aimed at achieving 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022. 150 GW has been generated while 63 GW of renewable energy is still under generation. The decoupling between growth and energy consumption has happened, we have to push harder said the minister.

The minister stressed the notion that energy transformation alone will not suffice and efforts must also be undertaken to store energy. 1 Unit of energy saved results in 1 Unit of energy generated. Banks will have to realise that energy efficiency saves money and it is not just for a good environment but also the reflection of economics.

The Minister said, large industries have already accepted the benefits of energy efficiency and I found the conscious need to save energy spreading in our country.

Singh complimented the BEE for initiating new awards called 'National Energy Efficiency Innovation Awards' to promote innovation in the energy sector. He congratulated all who won the award this year. He urged all others to come forward and identify another innovative mechanism to reduce energy consumption and participate in this award.

The Minister concluded by saying that all the efforts that are been undertaken by the concerned stakeholders will help us to realise the vision of a greener and healthier India.

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