Date: 06/02/2023
Relevance: GS-3: Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning, Mobilization of Resources; Government Budgeting; Environment Conservation, Environmental Pollution, Net-zero Commitment.
Key Phrases: Union Budget, Fiscal Policy, Research and Development, World Economic Forum, Electrical Vehicles, Environment, COP26 , Saptarishi, Panchamrita, Net-zero emission, Carbon Intensity, Inter-state Transmission, Solar Energy, Wind Energy, LiFE Initiative, UNFCCC, Amrit kal.
Context:
- During presenting the budget our Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
emphasized on the government’s commitment to move towards net-zero carbon
emission by 2070.
- Therefore, budget 2023-24 devoted a fair amount of space to the green industrial and economic transition needed.
Key Highlights:
- As per an article presented at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, India holds the key to hitting global climate change targets given its sizable and growing energy needs.
- With the country’s population set to overtake China’s this year, India’s appetite for energy to propel the economy is set to surge exponentially.
- Therefore, the transition to green alternatives from the current reliance on fossil fuels is an urgent imperative and an opportunity to leverage this move to catalyze new industries, generate jobs on a sizable scale, and add to overall economic output.
Budget’s Proposals for Green Growth:
- Lithium-ion Battery for Electrical Vehicles
- In India, the electric vehicle (EV) revolution is poised to take off
and almost every major automobile company rolls out new EV models to tap
the demand of electric vehicles.
- Therefore, the availability of indigenously produced lithium-ion batteries has become a necessity, especially to lower the cost of EVs.
- To facilitate this, the Budget proposes to exempt customs duty on
the import of capital goods and machinery required to manufacture
lithium-ion cells used in EV batteries.
- This ought to give a fillip to local companies looking to set up EV battery plants.
- In India, the electric vehicle (EV) revolution is poised to take off
and almost every major automobile company rolls out new EV models to tap
the demand of electric vehicles.
- Battery Energy Storage Systems
- Energy storage systems are crucial in power grid stabilization and
essential as India increases its reliance on alternative sources of
power generation including solar and wind.
- With wind turbine farms and solar photovoltaic projects characteristically producers of variable electric supply, battery storage systems become enablers of ensuring the electricity these generators produce at their peak output is stored and then supplied to match the demand arriving at the grid from household or industrial consumers.
- In the Budget, the Govt proposed for the establishment of a viability gap funding mechanism to support the creation of battery energy storage systems with a capacity of 4,000 MWh.
- Energy storage systems are crucial in power grid stabilization and
essential as India increases its reliance on alternative sources of
power generation including solar and wind.
- Inter-State Transmission System
- Ladakh has vast stretches of barren land and one of the country’s
highest levels of sunlight availability.
- Therefore, It is considered an ideal location to site photovoltaic arrays for producing a substantial capacity of solar power.
- To tap this specific potential of Ladakh, The Finance Minister set
aside a vital ₹8,300 crore towards a ₹20,700 crore project for
building an inter-State transmission system for the evacuation and
grid integration of 13 GW of renewable energy from Ladakh.
- The transmission line will help address what had so far been the hurdle in setting up solar capacity in the region, given its remoteness from India’s main power grid.
- Ladakh has vast stretches of barren land and one of the country’s
highest levels of sunlight availability.
‘Saptarishi’
- The Budget adopts the following seven priorities. They complement
each other and act as the ‘Saptarishi’ guiding us through the Amrit
Kaal.
- Inclusive Development
- Reaching the Last Mile
- Infrastructure and Investment
- Unleashing the Potential
- Green Growth
- Youth Power
- Financial Sector
'Panchamrit'
- During COP 26 of UNFCCC, Our prime minister has given five
climate goals as the ‘five elixirs’ towards limiting the rising
temperatures:
- India will increase its non-fossil capacity to 500 gigawatt by 2030.
- India will meet 50% of its energy needs from renewable sources.
- India will reduce at least one billion tonnes of total projected emissions between now and 2030.
- India will reduce the country’s carbon intensity to less than 45%.
- India will achieve a net-zero emissions target by 2070.
Way Forward:
- Green Growth is one of the 7 priorities (Saptarishi of Amrit Kaal)
of the Budget.
- The Government is running many programmes for green fuel, green mobility, green buildings, green energy, green equipment and policies for efficient use of energy across various economic sectors.
- Focusing on green growth, the country is heading for its net zero ‘Panchamrit’ goal (presented by our Prime minister) by 2070.
Source: The Hindu
Mains Question:
Q. What are the major proposals for green growth suggested in the Budget 2023-24? Also, evaluate the significance of these proposals for achieving the Net-zero emission target by 2070. (150 Words).
