Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday addressed the first post-Budget webinar, particularly focused on Green Growth.

It is the first of a series of 12 post-budget webinars being organized by the government to seek ideas and suggestions for effective implementation of the initiatives announced in the recent Union Budget. Speaking about Green growth, which was one of the seven top priorities of the Union Budget 2023-24, Prime Minister Modi said India’s solar, wind and biogas potential is no less than a “gold mine or an oilfield” for India’s private sector.

These renewable sources have huge potential to generate a huge number of green jobs.

The Union Budget has envisaged a number of projects and initiatives spread across various sectors and ministries — Green Hydrogen Mission, Energy Transition, Energy Storage Projects, Renewable Energy Evacuation, Green Credit Program, PM-PRANAM, GOBARdhan Scheme, Bhartiya Prakritik Kheti Bio-Input Resource Centres, MISHTI, Amrit Dharohar, Coastal Shipping and Vehicle Replacement.

“India’s vehicle scrapping policy is a key part of India’s green growth strategy. We are going to scrap over three lakh vehicles. This budget is an opportunity for the security of India’s future. We need to work collectively and swiftly to implement budget policies,” Modi said.

The Union Budget for 2023-24 will be key in helping India to become a lead player in the global green energy market, Modi added.

“The provisions made in this year’s budget regarding Green Growth are in a way the foundation stone for the bright future of our next generations,” he added.

Meanwhile, India started phased rollout of E20 fuel. A blend of 20 per cent ethanol and 80 per cent fossil-based fuel is E20 fuel.

India has increased the ethanol blending in petrol from 1.53 per cent in 2013-14 to 10.17 per cent in 2022 and also advanced its target to achieve 20 per cent from earlier 2030 to now 2025-26.

The green push will gradually lead to the decarbonization of industrial, transport, and energy sectors, a reduction in dependence on imported fossil fuels, among others. India meets a sizable portion of its energy needs through imports, and diversifying indigenous sources is seen as an avenue to reduce the dependence on imported fuel.

At the COP26 summit in Glasgow in 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had committed to an ambitious five-part “Panchamrit” pledge, including reaching 500 GW of non-fossil electricity capacity, to generate half of all energy requirements from renewables, to reduce emissions by 1 billion tons by 2030.
India also aims to reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 45 per cent. Finally, India commits to net-zero emissions by 2070.

Notably, India banned several single-use plastics starting July 2022. Single-use plastics are typically items that are discarded after being used only once and do not go through the recycling process.