India on Friday asked all states to have a State specific agency dedicated for energy efficiency and conservation and make an action plan to achieve the assigned targets of energy saving and renewable energy generation.
“We are working for a new and modern India, which cannot happen without modern power systems, and we look forward to working with all States and UTs to achieve this,” said Union Power Minister R K Singh while addressing a virtual meeting with the officers of th MNRE, Additional Chief Secretaries and Principal Secretaries of state governments called to discuss the role of States and UTs towards Energy Transition Goals of India.
He said there should be collaborative efforts between the Union and the State governments towards the large-scale deployment of energy efficiency measures in potential sectors of the economy. He further urged all states to replace diesel engines with renewable to achieve the target of zero diesel use in the agriculture sector by 2024.
The Minister also told states to make sure all commercial buildings follow Energy Conservation Codes (ECBs). Similarly, the domestic building should follow ECO NIWAS. States must amend building by-laws and make it as per the guidelines of the ECO NIVAS and ECBs. He said all the power demand would be met by non-fossil fuel methods with the help of energy storage.
The Minister told state governments that India has already committed to meet non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GigaWatt by 2030 and would meet half of India’s energy needs from renewable energy by the same period. India would also reduce its projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes in the coming eight years and by 2070, India is targeting to achieve net-zero emission, the Minister said.