Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a slew of measures for promotion of green growth and renewable energy while tabling the Interim Budget 2024-2025 in Parliament on Thursday.

She said one crore households will be enabled to obtain up to 300 units free electricity every month through rooftop solarization.

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“This scheme follows the resolve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the historic day of consecration of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The benefits expected from the step include savings up to Rs 15,000-Rs 18,000 annually for households from free solar electricity and selling the surplus to distribution companies,” the minister noted.

She said the scheme will also provide entrepreneurship opportunities for a large number of vendors for supply and installation of such rooftop solar devices.

“Our government will expand and strengthen the e-vehicle ecosystem by supporting manufacturing and charging infrastructure,” she said while announcing that greater adoption of e-buses for public transport networks will be encouraged through payment security mechanism.

With the aim of meeting the commitment of ‘net-zero’ by 2070, Sitharaman proposed viability gap funding for harnessing offshore wind energy potential for initial capacity of one giga-watt.

“Coal gasification and liquefaction capacity of 100 MT to be set up by 2030. This will also help in reducing imports of natural gas, methanol, and ammonia. Phased mandatory blending of Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) in Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for transport and Piped Natural Gas (PNG) for domestic purposes to be mandated. Financial assistance to be provided for procurement of biomass aggregation machinery to support collection,” she told the House.

The Centre also announced a new scheme of bio-manufacturing and bio-foundry to provide environment-friendly alternatives such as biodegradable polymers, bio-plastics, bio-pharmaceuticals and bio-agri-inputs.

“This scheme will also help in transforming today’s consumptive manufacturing paradigm to the one based on regenerative principles,” she added.