Conducive policy requires to meet ambitious climate targets: Amitabh Kant

New Delhi : CEO of NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant, said Monday that achieving the ambitious climate targets would necessitate a conducive policy environment to encourage investment.

He made these remarks while NITI Aayog launched the State Energy & Climate Index-Round I report, to determine the performance of the states on six different parameters.

“The State Energy & Climate Index Round-I will help initiate a dialogue with the states on the energy sector so that many required policy improvements can be made,” he said.

He said that India is the third-largest energy consumer and oil importer. One of the key commitments that we have is to make that India fossil-free independent by 2047.

The six different parameters include DISCOM’s performance, access, affordability, and reliability of energy, clean energy initiatives, energy efficiency, environmental sustainability, and new initiatives.

The parameters are further divided into 27 indicators. Based on the composite SECI Round I score, the states and UTs are categorized into three groups: Front Runners, Achievers, and Aspirants.

According to the report, Gujarat, Kerala, and Punjab have been ranked as the top three performers in the category of larger states, whereas Goa emerged as the top-performing state in the smaller states category, followed by Tripura and Manipur.

“Among UTs, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Daman & Diu/Dadra & Nagar Haveli are the top performers,” it said.

The states have been categorized based on size and geographical differences into three categories: larger states, smaller states, and UTs.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog said that there is a need to convert our efforts towards achieving the “Panchamrit” targets announced by the hon’ble PM at COP-26, Glasgow, into a people’s movement.

 In order to do this, the role of the United States is going to be critical. Governance innovation and mutual learning by states shall go a long way in improving outcomes, and SECI Round I is the right step in this direction, “he said.

Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog, remarked that synergy and partnership among the Centre and the States will be critical for achieving energy and climate-related goals and making the country self-reliant in the energy sector.

He said that after extensive discussions with stakeholders, several key parameters have been identified to track and rank the performance of the states in this report.

Additional Secretary Dr Rakesh Sarwal presented the key findings of the report and appreciated the work taken up by NITI Aayog for coming up with the State Energy & Climate Index.

“The clean energy transition is inevitable. The role of DISCOMs is paramount, and their viability is the crux. He pointed out that regulatory assets at the same time need to be liquidated, which is making DISCOMs “unviable,” he said.