FinMin makes energy efficiency must, ropes in EESL

Giving a big boost to energy conservation, the Finance Ministry has issued guidelines for mandatory installation of energy efficient appliances in all central government buildings in the country.
"Considering the fact that majority of the government buildings are old constructions and, therefore, consume large amount of energy, the Ministry of Finance has issued guidelines for mandatory installation of energy efficient appliances in all central government buildings across India," the Power Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry has directed that usage of LED based lightings and energy-efficient cooling equipment such as fans and air conditioners in government buildings will lead to savings in the long run through reduction in energy consumption.

The power ministry said that to implement this, the Department of Expenditure under the Ministry of Finance has decided to take up services of Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of PSUs, on nomination basis to assist various ministries and departments to retrofit energy efficient appliances in all their premises across the country.
Currently, the EESL is the implementation agency for the Buildings Energy Efficiency Programme, which was launched in May 2017 by Power Minister Piyush Goyal.
Under the programme, the EESL intends to bring in investment of around Rs 1,000 crore covering more than 10,000 large government/private buildings by 2020.

It is estimated that about one crore LED lights, 15 lakh energy efficient ceiling fans, and 1.5 lakh energy efficient ACs will be retrofitted by the EESL in these buildings.

The EESL has already retrofitted energy efficient appliances in prominent government buildings such as NITI Aayog, Nirman Bhawan, Sardar Patel Bhawan, Shastri Bhawan, J&K Assembly, Jammu Secretariat, Vidyut Bhawan, and Rajiv Chowk Metro station where energy efficient LED lights, energy efficient ceiling fans, and energy efficient air conditioners have been retrofitted.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 5, 2015 had launched the National LED Programme, to facilitate rapid adoption of LED based home and street lighting across the country.

The programme components, Unnat Jeevan by Affordable LEDs and Appliances for All (UJALA) and Street Lighting National Programme (SNLP) of the EESL are currently under implementation in 29 States and 7 Union Territories.