New Delhi: Hon’ble President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, presided as the Chief Guest over the National Energy Conservation Day celebrations, held here today. The occasion was also graced by the presence of Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Shri Raj Kumar Singh.
Hon’ble President of India gave away National Energy Conservation Awards to industries that have demonstrated measurable reductions in their energy use as part of the National Energy Conservation Awards Programme. During the event, a short film on the Energy Efficiency achievements in the Industry Sector was also shown. Further, Shri Kovind presented the National Painting Competition Prizes and visited the exhibition of the prize -winning paintings. This year, over 1.22 crore children, between 4th and 9th standards from across India, participated in the National Painting Competition and 322 industrial units and establishments from key sectors participated in the National Energy Conservation Awards 2017.
The Energy Conservation Day is organized on 14th December each year by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), under Ministry of Power, with an aim to demonstrate India’s achievements in energy efficiency and conservation, while working for its ambition of holistic development as part of the nation’s overall effort towards climate change mitigation. As part of its awareness outreach, BEE recognizes and encourages endeavours of industries in reducing energy consumption by felicitating them with National Energy Conservation Awards. BEE also awards prizes to the national winners of the annual National Painting Competition on Energy Conservation.
Addressing the gathering, Shri Kovind congratulated the Prize winners from Industry, Government bodies and the school children, for their efforts towards Energy efficiency and conservation. Hon’ble President noted that the Government is committed towards sustainable growth of the economy, for which, achieving the target of 24×7 Power for All is imperative. Shri Kovind added that such a tall target can only be achieved by the cooperation of every individual in the society and not only the Government. Hon’ble President also encouraged Industry to hold hands with Government to set up Energy Banks, to meet increasing Energy demand in the country in the near future.
Emphasizing the importance of energy in a country’s economic growth, Shri R.K. Singh said that no country can progress without increase in energy consumption, more so for developing countries. India’s per capita annual energy consumption is 1100 units, which is 5 times lower than Europe and 16 times than US. Nevertheless, the Minister reiterated India’s commitment to reduce the energy intensity of its economic growth by one-third by 2030 and aim towards achieving a responsible growth profile. He added that the country is well on track to surpass its renewable energy (RE) target of 175 GW by 2022 and would comfortably cross 200 GW. Further, India’s RE capacity would be 57% of the total installed capacity by 2030, including hydropower, the Minister said.
Shri Singh also informed the gathering about the roadmap of RE released recently by the Ministry. Bids of 20GW Solar power and 9GW wind power have been opened this year. In the coming 2 years, bids for 30GW Solar and 10GW wind each year would be opened, informed the Minister. Further, Shri Singh also stated that the Ministry is already undertaking surveys for floating solar power and off-shore projects in the country. Next year, bids for 5GW offshore wind power projects are in the pipeline, the Minister informed.
Power Minister also detailed the steps taken by the Government to increase energy conservation and efficiency of the economy. These included energy efficiency labelling of 21 consumer goods by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE); Energy Conservation Building Codes notified in 10 States and 1 Union Territory; over 300 mn LED lamps distributed; 8.5 million tonnes of oil equivalent saved in energy through Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme and 6000MW power generation capacity avoided in the 1st cycle of PAT.
On the occasion, Hon’ble President also unveiled the interactive online portal, ECO-NIWAS (Energy COnservation – New Indian Way for Affordable & Sustainable homes) for increasing awareness to build sustainable and energy efficient homes in the country.
The National Energy Conservation Awards Programme recognizes the energy efficiency achievements in 56 sub sectors across industry, establishments and institutions such as thermal power stations, office and BPO buildings, hotels, hospitals, shopping malls, zonal railways, railway workshops and stations, municipalities, State Designated Agencies and manufacturers of BEE Star labeled appliances/equipment and electricity distribution companies.
In the last 19 years (1999-2017) of the award scheme, the award participants have collectively invested over Rs. 48,000 crores in energy efficient technologies and processes, and saved nearly Rs. 38,000 crores through reduced electricity bills and avoided capacity generation. In energy terms, they have saved over 44 Billion kWh of electrical energy, 5.1 billion litres of oil, 22.6 million metric tonnes of coal and 250 billion cubic meters of gas.
Other dignitaries present at the occasion were Shri Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Secretary Power, Shri Anand Kumar, Secretary Ministry of New & Renewable Energy and Awardees from Industry, schools and Government bodies, along with senior officers of the Ministry.
