In order to facilitate efficient and speedy implementation of Union Budget 2022 announcements, the Government of India is holding a series of webinars across various key sectors. The objective is to brainstorm with experts from the public and private sectors, academia and industry and identify strategies on how best to move forward towards implementation of various initiatives under different sectors.

As part of this series, the Sectoral Group on Resources comprising of Ministries of Power; Petroleum & Natural Gas; New & Renewable Energy; Coal; Mines; External Affairs; and Environment, Forest & Climate Change is organizing a Webinar on “Energy for Sustainable Growth” at 10 AM on March 4, 2022 to discuss the initiatives of the Government of India in the energy and resources sector which have been announced in Budget 2022 and to elicit ideas and suggestions for effective implementation of these initiatives.

The Budget 2022 underpins India’s energy transition journey by promoting a low-carbon development strategy, in line with the Panchamrit strategy presented by Hon’ble Prime Minister at COP 26. This strategy will enable India to meets its energy requirements in a sustainable manner. The budget proposed several near-term and long-term actions accordingly as outlined below:

• Promotion of EV vehicles and special mobility zones with zero fossil-fuel policy
• Rollout of battery swapping policy and formulation of inter-operability standards
• Encouraging private sector to develop sustainable and innovative business models for ‘Battery or Energy as a Service’
• Additional allocation of Rs.19,500 crore for Production Linked Incentive for manufacture of high efficiency solar PV modules
• Addressing important cross cutting issues relating to circular economy transition such as infrastructure, reverse logistics, technology upgradation and integration with informal sector.
• Co-firing of 5-7% biomass pellets in thermal power plants
• Promoting energy efficiency and savings measures in large commercial buildings through the Energy Service Company (ESCO) business model.
• Setting up four pilot projects for coal gasification and conversion of coal into chemicals required for the industry
• Issuance of sovereign Green Bonds for mobilizing resources for green infrastructure.
• Inclusion of Energy Storage Systems including dense charging infrastructure and grid-scale battery systems in the harmonized list of infrastructure.
• Higher duties for unblended fuel to promote ethanol blending

The webinar will have sessions on different themes of relevance and will witness participation of government officials of various ministries and state governments, industry representatives, and other experts.

The themes identified for the webinar are:

1. Developing Energy Storage for RE Expansion
2. Lifestyle for Environment (LIFE): Energy Conservation: ESCO Model, Promoting Electric Mobility: Battery Swapping and Circular Economy
3. Coal Gasification
4. Promoting Biomass as an Alternative Energy Source: Compressed Bio-Gas, Co-firing of pellets and Ethanol blending
5. Agro and Farm Forestry
6. Scaling up of Renewable Energy: Solar Manufacturing and Hydrogen Mission

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will address the opening Plenary Session. The webinar will also include six parallel breakout sessions under the themes as identified above. As part of the collaborative process, the participants will define specific actions to implement the key initiatives including the Budget 2022 announcements in the energy and resources sector with a view to achieve sustainable economic growth.

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MV/IG