A bill to mandate the use of non-fossil energy sources such as biomass, ethanol and green hydrogen and allow carbon credit trading in the country was passed by Parliament on Monday.
The Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was cleared in the Rajya Sabha by a voice vote on Monday. The Lok Sabha cleared the legislation in the previous session in August this year.
The bill provides for penalties for violations by industrial units or vessels, and on manufacturers if a vehicle fails to comply with fuel consumption norms.
The amendments also seek to promote renewable energy and the development of a domestic carbon market to battle climate change.
The bill is aimed at helping the country achieve its international commitments on climate change.
It aims to introduce new concepts such as carbon trading and mandate the use of non-fossil sources to ensure faster decarbonisation of the Indian economy and help achieve sustainable development goals in line with the Paris Agreement.
Replying to a debate on the bill, Minister for New and Renewable Energy R K Singh said the bill is environment friendly and will allow carbon trading in the country.
He noted the bill is a step towards taking a concrete action towards reducing carbon emissions.
"This is something which is essential for the planet. We don't have any alternative. This is the only planet which we have and we have to do our best to save it. We are doing our best but if you ask me whether the other developed countries are doing their best, I will say I have questions, I have doubts. We hear a lot of talk but do not see any concrete action," he stated.
Concrete action is what the country is taking and will continue to take in future as well, he added.
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"For the government, the environment is precious and it will take all steps for that," he said, adding India has now become a leader in the energy transition.
Currently 24 per cent of the energy consumption is by the housing sector and the Energy Conservation Code for buildings will also apply to office and residential buildings with a connected load of 100 kilowatt or above.
However, he added, the state government has been given the liberty to reduce the building load up to 50KW.
"We are also expanding the concept of green building. We are making it more sustainable. Earlier, it was energy efficiency and we are also adding the concept of renewable energy in this," he said.
The country also aims to be a leader in green hydrogen and the ministry has already drafted rules and the industry is going to invest to set up capacity for 25 million tonnes of green hydrogen.
He also said the country would achieve over 50 per cent of its power generation capacity from non-fossil fuels by 2030.
Singh noted that ever since the BJP government assumed office in 2014, almost 1.73 lakh megawatt of capacity has been added transforming the country from power deficit to power surplus.
"We improved the distribution system by investing Rs 2.04 lakh crore in the past five years through distribution companies," he added.
CPI(M) members John Brittas and V Sivadasan moved some amendments to the bill but these were rejected through voice vote.
The bill was introduced in Rajya Sabha for passage on December 8 by Singh.
During the debate, opposition members picked holes in the bill saying it encroaches upon the jurisdiction of the Environment Ministry and the government should have brought the legislation after consultation through a standing committee of Parliament.
P Wilson of the DMK said, "If observed accurately, the proposed bill majorly concerns the environmental aspects which fall to the expertise of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change." By making the Ministry of Power as the nodal agency, he said the bill "is acting without jurisdiction and usurping the power of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change." Sandeep Kumar Pathak of the AAP also pointed out that while it is a "futuristic bill", it has many issues which needed to be addressed.
Similarly, Manoj Kumar Jha of the RJD said there is a domain conflict. The bill would have been even better than its present form had it been introduced after taking wider inputs through consultations in a Parliament Standing Committee.
He said it is not clear who will be responsible for carbon credit certificate and who will regulate it.
Shaktisinh Gohil of the Congress said had the bill gone to a standing committee, it would have been much better.
Binoy Viswam of the CPI urged the government to refer the bill to a parliamentary panel arguing that it needs to be improved with several required changes.
Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena described the proposed legislation as the "need of the hour that we look towards energy conservation and energy efficiency".
However, she suggested the jurisdiction should be done through an inter-ministerial group.
V Sivadasan CPI (M) alleged that the proposed amendment does not address the issues of common people but is favouring centralisation.
He said carbon trading and energy conservation methods are different from states to states. Union government must give the right to states for managing the energy conservation methods.
While supporting the bill, S Niranjan Reddy of the YSRCP highlighted the lack of regulator for carbon trading, cautioning that this could leave a loophole.
Some other members including Satish Chandra Dubey (BJP), Ashok Bajpai (BJP), Birendra Prasad Baishya (AGP), Ram Chander Jangra (BJP), Maharaja Sanajaoba Leishemba (BJP) supported the bill.
(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)