New Delhi: Raj Kumar Singh Minister of State of Power and Renewable Energy mentioned that business and government must partner for sustainable development of India. He was speaking at the launch of NITI Aayog and CII Partnership on SDGs, organised by NITI Aayog, Confederation of Indian Industry and UN.
The agenda of the government for 2022 was set as:
- Make quality power available to each household in the country, bring down the prices from Rs 8 per unit to about Rs 3.50 per unit.
- With respect to Discoms a law will be passed, so that if any Discom is involved in any loadshedding without any actual breakdowns those Discoms will be penalised.
- A campaign to keep AC temperatures between 24 and 26 degrees to ensure conservation of energy. Every degree by which the temperature is raised saves 6 percent of power.
- To build a demand for storage for the highest solar potential in Ladakh with a 35000 MW potential.
Amitabh Kant CEO, NITI Aayog, in his address highlighted the high pace of urbanisation of India at a time when the countries such as USA and Europe are almost through with this process. He said, ‘we do not have the luxury of land, gas and water available cheaply as it was for the developed nations back then’. Kant emphasised, the only way to grow and develop sustainably is to use technology to leapfrog: use new and renewable energy and push for R&D and innovation to generate demand for electric vehicles, hydrogen cars, etc. and to find local solutions for 7 million strong population around the world.’
Yuri Afanasiev, UN Resident Coordinator, said that ‘conditions in India are favourable due to its nature, history and demography, to come up with solutions towards a sustainable and circular economy for the world to emulate.’ He said, ‘it is not going to be a linear trajectory and there are tipping points which we may be hitting soon. More than political, it is a matter of our survival, future of humanity and our planet.’
