Clean green hydrogen energy generation. , Photo credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
Underlining the commitment to accelerate the transition of the Indian economy to one driven by green energy, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech On Wednesday mentioned several schemes aimed at promoting clean energy and sustainable living.
Green energy was between ‘Saptarishi’ or seven guiding lights Ms. Sitharaman mentioned this in her address which will further India through ‘Amrit Kaal’ (next 25 years).
He said the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had earmarked Rs 35,000 crore for “priority capital investment”, although neither his speech nor the budget documents provided much clarity on this.
After the recent announcement of Govt. Promoting ‘Green Hydrogen’ And to boost renewable energy projects, the minister said battery energy storage systems with a capacity of 4,000 megawatt hours would be “supported” with viability gap funding to encourage investment.
The budget also waived customs duty on capital goods and machinery for lithium-ion battery manufacturing. The move is expected to make electric vehicles and storage systems cheaper.
boost for solar projects
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has received a budgetary allocation of ₹10,222 crore, which is 45% more than the ₹7,033 crore to be spent in the current financial year. The most significant addition to the ministry’s programs is for ‘off-grid’ solar projects, on which the government is expected to spend ₹61 crore in the current fiscal, but ₹360 crore has been budgeted for the coming fiscal .
India had set a target of installing 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar power projects by 2022, but has installed only 63 GW so far. Off-grid solar projects are less than 5% of the target. The allocation for solar power to be supplied to the grid has been increased from ₹3,469 crore to ₹4,970 crore to be spent by March 2023. National Green Hydrogen Mission – ₹19,000 crore program for production, utilization and supply of hydrogen from renewable energy sources – ₹297 crore has been allocated.
3 key measures
“For a budget allocation of ₹35,000 crore (about $4 billion) to begin catalyzing the nearly $30 billion energy transition finance needed annually by India for its net zero future, three types of measures will be needed: Risk guarantees for capital for low carbon investments in the country; Demand aggregation measures as done for LED lighting and electric buses; and announced hydrogen electrolysers for battery storage and viability gap funding for offshore wind,” World Resources Institute director Ulka Kelkar said in a statement.
Ms. Sitharaman also referred to the ‘Green Credit’ program to be notified under the Environment (Protection) Act. “It will encourage environmentally sustainable and responsible actions by companies, individuals and local bodies, and help mobilize additional resources for such activities,” she said. “Based on India’s success in afforestation, the Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Income (Mishti) will be launched for mangrove plantation along the coastline and on salt pan lands,” he added.
On the condition of anonymity, an official of the Ministry of Environment told Hindu Such a program would be “comprehensive” and involve multiple ministries. “This is still being finalised. However, it will include a number of existing schemes that encourage reduction of emissions by industries or tree planting in wasteland [that become stores of carbon over time],