58 Leaders from 40 Political Parties attended Meeting (See 'Corp Brief') Odisha's New Coastal Highway: A Gateway to Spiritual Journeys (See 'Corp Brief') IBC - Foreign subsidiary assets must remain separate from parent company's insolvency proceedings: NCLAT (See 'Legal Desk') Vaishnaw flags Off Ramnagar-Dehradun Express (See 'Corp Brief') Centre provides extended Relief Window for Select Solar Projects up to December (See 'Corp Brief') Arbitration and Conciliation - A supervisory court lacks power to modify an award or grant fresh substantive reliefs, rendering petitioner's prayer for active domain transfer legally unmaintainable: HC (See 'Legal Desk') Vivek Nishant Nath takes charge as Director (Commercial), NMDC (See 'Corp Brief') Aadhaar App crosses 40 Million Downloads, Driving Convenient Digital Identity Services (See 'Corp Brief') Arbitration - Scope of interference under Section 37 of the Act is highly circumscribed & does not permit re-appreciation of evidence or fresh factual determination on matters of accounting: HC (See 'Legal Desk') PM lays bricks for 150-bed state-of-the-art Critical Care Block at PGIMER (See 'Corp Brief') Govt to release Revised Index of Core Industries Series with Base Year 2022-23 (See 'Corp Brief') 4th Edition of IICA's National Conference on Responsible Business Conduct held in Delhi (See 'Corp Brief') Capital Market - AMC/ Fund houses cannot, on grounds of commercial expediency or investor benefit, unilaterally extend maturity of securities and delay redemption of scheme proceeds: SC (See 'Legal Desk') MSDE extends Special Intervention under PM-NAPS to Boost Apprenticeship (See 'Corp Brief') Centre for Trade and Investment Law launches guidebook to help Indian MSMEs expand into global markets (See 'Corp Brief') Misc - Metro depot is indispensable part of metro rail project and therefore squarely falls within public purpose: SC (See 'Legal Desk') Goyal leads High-Level Delegation to Finland to Strengthen Trade and Investment Ties (See 'Corp Brief') Over 75 Industries join ICAR CSR Conclave 2026 (See 'Corp Brief') Misc - Inclusion of royalty, DMF and NMET in sale value under Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 2017, is valid measure for computation of average sale price and does not alter nature of royalty u/s 9 of MMDR Act: SC (See 'Legal Desk') Tech Innovation and disruption in Construction Industry (See 'CORP EINSICHT')

Clean energy can aid India's economic recovery post-Covid-19: Report

Published: Jun 30, 2020

By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, JUNE 30, 2020: A new report highlights emerging challenges and opportunities for India's transition to clean mobility and power systems in the context of Covid-19

NITI Aayog and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) today released  Towards a Clean Energy Economy: Post-Covid-19 Opportunities for India's Energy and Mobility Sectors  report, which advocates for stimulus and recovery efforts that work towards building a clean, resilient, and least-cost energy future for India. These efforts include electric vehicle, energy storage, and renewable energy programs.

The report identifies how Covid-19 is beginning to influence the clean energy transition in India, specifically for the transport and power sectors, and recommends principles and strategic opportunities for the country's leaders to drive economic recovery and maintain momentum towards a clean energy economy.

Covid-19 has presented significant demand- and supply-side challenges for India's transport and power sectors, from liquidity constraints and supply shortages to shifts in consumer demand and preferences.

Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog said he is confident that India's economy will recover following the containment of the Covid-19 pandemic. "India's strong democratic institutions promote policy stability. Ongoing economic reforms, if executed well, should keep the country's growth rate ahead of peers," he said.

"Clean energy will be a major driver of India's economic recovery and international competitiveness," added Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog. "We must look at how to leverage our domestic innovation ecosystem to bring value to the country and industry in this new normal. We have recommended specific actions by which India can revive two of our economic powerhouses—the transport and power sectors—and emerge stronger."

The report lays out four principles as a framework for policymakers and other key decision-makers considering programmes to support India's clean energy future: 1) invest in least-cost-energy solutions, 2) support resilient and secure energy systems, 3) prioritize efficiency and competitiveness, and 4) promote social and environmental equity.

"India needs to identify strategic opportunities for economic recovery in the short, medium, and long terms that can translate challenges posed by the pandemic into clean energy transition opportunities" said Anil Srivastava, Principal Consultant and Mission Director, NITI Aayog.

Opportunities in the transport sector include making public transport safe, enhancing and expanding non-motorized transport infrastructure, reducing vehicle kilometres travelled through work-from-home where possible, supporting national strategies to adopt electric vehicles in the freight and passenger segments, and making India an automotive export hub.

In the power sector, opportunities include improving the electricity distribution business and its operations, enabling renewables and distributed energy resources, and promoting energy resilience and local manufacturing of renewable energy and energy storage technologies.

"The principles and opportunities in the report can provide guidance to India's public and private sector leaders on how to evaluate and prioritize stimulus and recovery options that continue to invest in a long-term clean energy future for India," said Akshima Ghate, Director, RMI India.

"Covid-19 has disrupted the world and affected everyone's lives," said Clay Stranger, senior director, Rocky Mountain Institute. "As India looks to recovery efforts, clean energy and mobility systems can make a more resilient India by bolstering manufacturing, enhancing the reliability of electricity, avoiding costly oil imports, and cleaning the air."

The report states that India's transport sector can save 1.7 gigatonnes of cumulative carbon dioxide emissions and avoid about 600 million tonnes of oil equivalent in fuel demand by 2030 through shared, electric, and connected passenger mobility and cost-effective, clean, and optimized freight transport. Significant savings are also achievable in the power sector through the adoption of renewable energy, energy storage, efficiency, and flexible generation and demand.

TIOL CORP SEARCH

TIOL GROUP WEBSITES