PM addresses post budget webinar on Green Growth
“Amrit Kaal Budget accelerates the momentum for green growth”
“Every budget of this government has been forwarding new-age reforms along with
finding solutions to current challenges”
“Green energy announcements in this Budget lay the foundation stone and pave
the way for future generations”
“This Budget will play a key role in establishing India as a lead player in the
global green energy market”
“India has been the fastest in renewable energy capacity addition among major
economies since 2014”
“The potential of solar, wind and biogas in India is no less than any gold mine
or oil field for our private sector”
“India’s vehicle scrappage policy is a crucial part of the green growth
strategy”
“India has huge potential to lead the world in Green Energy. It will forward
the cause of global good apart from generating Green Jobs”
“This budget is not only an opportunity, but it also contains the guarantee of
our future security”
The Prime
Minister, Narendra Modi addressed the post budget webinar on ‘Green Growth’
today. It is the first of a series of 12 post-budget webinars organized by the
government to seek ideas and suggestions for the effective implementation of
the initiatives announced in the Union Budget 2023.
Addressing
the gathering, the Prime Minister remarked that all the budgets tabled in the
country after 2014 have been forwarding new-age reforms apart from finding
solutions to the challenges faced in the present day.
The
Prime Minister outlined three pillars for green growth and energy transmission.
First, increasing the production of renewable energy; second, reducing the use
of fossil fuel in the economy; and finally, rapidly moving towards a gas-based
economy in the country. This strategy has underlined the announcements of
measures like ethanol blending, PM KUSUM Yojana, incentives for solar
manufacturing, rooftop solar scheme, coal gasification, and battery storage in
the Budgets of the past few years. Underlining the significant announcements in
previous years’ budgets, the Prime Minister highlighted schemes such as green
credit for industries, PM Pranam Yojna for farmers, Gobardhan Yojna for
villages, vehicle scrapping policy for cities, Green Hydrogen and wetland
conservation in this year’s budget. The Prime Minister underlined that these
announcements lay the foundation stone and pave the way for future generations.
The
Prime Minister said that India’s commanding position in the renewable energy
space will ensure a commensurate change in the world. “This Budget will play a
key role in establishing India as a lead player in the global green energy
market. That is why, today, I invite every stakeholder of the energy world to
invest in India”, the Prime Minister said. Referring to the global efforts for
diversification of the energy supply chain, the Prime Minister said that this
Budget has given a great opportunity to every green energy investor to invest
in India. This will also be very useful for the startups in the sector, he
added.
“India
has been the fastest when it comes to renewable energy capacity addition among
major economies since 2014”, the Prime Minister said. He further added that
India’s track record shows its capability to achieve the objectives before time
when it comes to renewable energy resources. The Prime Minister informed that
India achieved the target of 40% contributions from non-fossil fuels in the
installed electricity capacity 9 years before the target date. He also
mentioned that India achieved the target of 10% ethanol blending in petrol 5
months before time and emphasised that the nation strives to achieve 20%
ethanol blending in petrol by 2025-26 instead of 2030. He underlined that the
capacity of 500 GW will be achieved by 2030. Recalling the launch of E20 fuel,
the Prime Minister noted the government’s emphasis on biofuels and said that it
has brought new opportunities for investors. He observed the abundance of
agri-waste in the country and urged the investors to not miss the opportunity
of setting up ethanol plants in every corner of the country. “The potential of
solar, wind and biogas in India is no less than any gold mine or oil field for
our private sector”, the Prime Minister said.
The
Prime Minister said that under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, India is
moving with a target of production of 5 MMT green hydrogen. An allocation of Rs
19 thousand crores has been made to incentivize the private sector in this
field. He also touched upon other opportunities such as electrolyzer
manufacturing, green steel manufacturing and long-haul fuel cells.
The
Prime Minister also informed that India has the potential of producing 10
thousand million cubic metres of biogas from Gobar (cow dung) and 1.5 lakh
cubic meter gas which can contribute up to 8% to the city gas distribution in
the country. “Because of these possibilities, today the Gobardhan Yojana is an
important component of India's biofuel strategy. In this budget, the government
has announced plans to set up 500 new plants under the Gobardhan Yojana. These
are not like old-fashioned plants. The government will spend Rs 10,000 crore on
these modern plants”, he added. The private sector is getting attractive
incentives for producing CBG from agri-waste and municipal solid waste, the
Prime Minister informed.
Throwing
light on India’s vehicle scrapping policy the Prime Minister stressed that it
is a crucial part of the green growth strategy. He informed that the government
has made provisions of Rs 3000 crores in this year’s budget to scrap around 3
lakh vehicles owned by Central and State governments that are older than 15
years including police vehicles, ambulances and buses. “Vehicle Scrapping is
going to become a huge market”, said the Prime Minister, following the
principle of Reuse, Recycle and Recovery. He also emphasised that it gives new
strength to our circular economy and urged the youth of India to join various
means of the circular economy.
The
Prime Minister said that India has to increase its battery storage capacity to
125-gigawatt hours in the next 6-7 years. The Prime Minister informed that the
government has come out with a viability gap funding scheme in this budget to
support the battery developers to achieve big goals in this capital-intensive
sector.
The
Prime Minister also touched upon water-based transport becoming a huge sector
in India. He informed that India transports only 5% of its cargo through its
coastal route today whereas only 2% of cargo is transported in India through
inland waterways. He underlined that the development of waterways in India will
give rise to many opportunities for all stakeholders in this field.
Concluding
the address, the Prime Minister said that India has huge potential to lead the
world when it comes to technology for Green Energy. He emphasised that it will
forward the cause of global good apart from generating Green Jobs. “This budget
is not only an opportunity, but it also contains the guarantee of our future
security”, the Prime Minister said as he urged all stakeholders to act quickly
to implement every provision of the budget. “The government stands with you and
your suggestions”, the Prime Minister concluded.
Background
The
webinar led by the Union Ministry of Power will have six breakout sessions
covering both energy and non-energy components of Green Growth. Besides
Ministers and Secretaries of concerned Central Government Ministries, a host of
stakeholders drawn from state governments, industry, academia & research
institutions and the public sector would attend these webinars and contribute
through suggestions for better implementation of budgetary announcements.
Green
growth is one of the seven top priorities of the Union Budget 2023-24 for
ushering green industrial and economic transition, environmentally friendly
agriculture and sustainable energy in the country. It will also generate a
large number of green jobs. The Union Budget has envisaged a number of projects
and initiatives spread across various sectors and ministries viz. Green
Hydrogen Mission, Energy Transition, Energy Storage Projects, Renewable Energy
Evacuation, Green Credit Program, PM-PRANAM, GOBARdhan Scheme, Bhartiya
Prakritik Kheti Bio-Input Resource Centres, MISHTI, Amrit Dharohar, Coastal
Shipping and Vehicle Replacement.
Each
post-budget webinar will have three sessions. It will start with a plenary
opening session which would be addressed by the Prime Minister. This session
will be followed by separate breakout sessions on various themes which would
take place in parallel. Finally, the ideas from the breakout sessions would be
presented during the plenary concluding session. Based on inputs received
during the webinar, concerned ministries would prepare a time bound action plan
for the implementation of budget announcements.
The
government has undertaken several budgetary reforms in the past few years. The
date of the budget was advanced to 1st February so that Ministries and
Departments get sufficient time for utilisation of the funds on the ground
before the onset of monsoons. Another step towards bringing in reforms in
budget implementation was the novel idea of Post Budget Webinars. This idea was
conceptualised by the Prime Minister to bring together experts from the public
and private sectors, academia, industry and practitioners on the field on a
single platform and collaboratively work on implementation strategies across
sectors. These webinars were started in 2021 in the spirit of Jan Bhagidari and
encourage involvement and ownership of all concerned stakeholders in effective,
quick and seamless implementation of the Budget announcements.
The
webinars will be focussed on synergising efforts of various Ministers and
Departments and all concerned stakeholders towards preparation of action plans
with quarterly targets so that the implementation is front ended and smooth
with the timely achievement of intended outcomes. They are being held virtually
to ensure wide participation. They will be attended by concerned Union
Ministers, key stakeholders from Government departments, Regulators, Academia,
Trade and Industry associations etc.