In his first of a series of 12 post-budget webinars, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday stressed on ‘Green Growth’. He said India’s solar, wind and biogas potential is no less than a “gold mine or an oilfield” for India’s private sector.
Speaking about Green growth, which was one of the seven top priorities of the Union Budget 2023-24, the prime minister said that these renewable sources have huge potential to generate a huge number of green jobs.
The prime minister was addressing the first post-Budget webinar, particularly focused on Green Growth.
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 de-carbonization 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.
