Over 1,100 participants attend post-Budget webinar on green growth

Over 1,100 participants on Thursday attended the post-budget webinar on green growth.

The Power Ministry led the first post-budget webinar on Green Growth with discussions in six parallel sessions on 12 announcements made in the Union Budget 2023-24, an official statement said.

Over 1,100 participants drawn from the industry, academia, PSUs, state governments and sector experts participated in the deliberations, which were aimed at seeking inputs for the finalisation of a time-bound action plan for the implementation of budget initiatives, it added.

Addressing the stakeholders at the webinar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited global investors to invest in India, saying that the renewable energy sector in the country has the potential not less than a goldmine or an oil field.

The first break-out session on Green Growth, led by Alok Kumar, Secretary, Power and co-led by BS Bhalla, Secretary, New and Renewable Energy, on Green Growth, focused on Energy Storage and Inter-State transmission system for RE evacuation, Green Hydrogen Mission and capital investment towards energy transition.

The second break-out session was led by Pankaj Jain, Secretary Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas led by deliberated on GOBARdhan (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan scheme).

The third break-out session led by Leena Nandan, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change discussed the Green Credit Programme, MISHTI and Amrit Dharohar initiatives with stakeholders.

The fourth session led by Ramesh Chand, Member, Niti Aayog deliberated on PMPRANAM and Bhartiya Prakritik Kheti Bio-Input Resource Centres.

Sudhansh Pant, Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, led the 5th break-out session on coastal shipping and Alka Upadhyaya, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, discussed with stakeholders the issues and timelines on the vehicle replacement programme.

Addressing the participants, the Prime Minister urged the industry to invest in the sector and said that India had a huge potential to lead the world in green energy and generate green jobs.

"This Budget will play a key role in establishing India as a lead player in the global green energy market. That is why, today, I invite every stakeholder of the energy world to invest in India," the Prime Minister said.

Speaking in the breakout session on Green Growth, Power Minister RK Singh said that the power sector is going to emerge as a major contributor to investment and growth in the country.

"The country will add 325 GW of Renewable Energy capacity between now and 2030. It has the lowest cost of setting up RE capacity, and its cost of Green Hydrogen will be the most competitive in the world. The country will need at least 80 GW of Electrolyser capacity by 2030. India is poised to transform from a net importer of energy to being a net exporter of energy," the minister said.

Highlighting that the country was growing at 7 per cent and the power demand was increasing at 10 per cent, the minister said that enough capacity in generation, transmission and distribution was being created to take care of the growing needs of the economy.

Singh said that a rather conservative estimate of 5 MMT has been projected for the Green Hydrogen by 2030 but the country was aiming to surpass this target.

Concluding the day-long deliberations, the minister said that this has been a very productive exercise with a large number of suggestions received from the stakeholders.

He said the concerned ministries would work on these suggestions to put in place a time-bound action plan.

As part of the Green Growth agenda, the Union Budget has envisaged 12 initiatives spread across 13 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.

The webinars by various ministries to build on 'Saptarshi' priorities are scheduled between February 23 and March 11.