Power Ministry proposes amendments to EC Act 2001; aims to boost clean energy consumption

In a bid to promote clean energy consumption, the Ministry of Power has proposed a set of amendments to the Energy Conservation Act (EC Act) 2001. "Amidst the growing energy needs and changing global climate landscape, the Government of India has identified new areas to achieve higher levels of penetration of Renewable energy by proposing certain Amendments to the Energy Conservation Act 2001," the Ministry informed in a statement.

The amendments were made after a detailed review and discussion with stakeholders and the proposals were reviewed by Union Power Minister RK Singh who later sought comments and suggestions from all Ministries and Departments concerned. The proposal placed by the Power Ministry includes defining the minimal share of renewable energy in the overall consumption by industrial units or any establishment. Apart from that, in order to incentivise efforts of using clean energy sources, a carbon saving certificate will be also provided. 

Earlier, a meeting was held by Power Ministry Secretary Alok Kumar with stakeholders concerned, ministries, and organisations on 28 October 2021, for giving a final shape to the proposed amendments. As per that, four stakeholder meetings were conducted to discuss and review the received inputs on the amendments. 

Amendments in EC Act will help to boost adoption of clean technologies 

Speaking on the target set by India on addressing climate change and furthering the adoption of clean technologies in various sectors of the economy, the Power Ministry stated that the amendments would help in facilitating the development of the carbon market in India and will further help in reducing fossil fuel consumption and carbon emissions. Apart from that, it will also help in achieving India's target of addressing climate change as it committed to reducing emission intensity by 33-35% in 2030 against the levels of 2005. 

Furthermore, India is also committed to achieving more than 40% cumulative electric power installed capacity for non-fossil fuel energy resources by 2030 and these amendments will help in adopting more energy efficiency measures which will help in accomplishing these. Apart from that, the proposed changes will also help in boosting the adoption of clean technologies and will further promote green hydrogen as an alternative to the existing fossil fuels. 

The Ministry of Power also informed that these amendments to the EC Act are major to empower institutions for contributing to India's Paris commitments and further to implement its National Determined Contributions (NDCs) in a timely manner. 

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