Niti Aayog, the premier think tank of the Indian government,
has been assigned the task of promoting India as a renewable energy investment
destination, while also developing a strategy so that its target of achieving
nearly fourfold output (from 45 GW to 175 GW) can be achieved by 2022. However,
people aware of the matter said that this move could potentially create a split
between the Niti Aayog and the Ministry of New And Renewable Energy."It is
difficult to ramp up output four times in six years because of a large number
of commercial and technical problems associated with renewable energy
generation. Hence, the government has decided to set up an overseeing mechanism
which will see the implementation of the roadmap laid out by the
government," a senior government official told ET on the condition of
anonymity. The Aayog has been introduced with a two-tier structure, which
comprises of an advisory group and a steering committee, the announcement order
for which has been issued. "The advisory group will oversee the
integration of RE into electricity grid by promoting coordination between the
Centre and states and suggest interventions required to promote India as an RE
investment destination/hub to achieve national renewable energy targets,"
it said in an order. Arvind Panagariya, VC of NITI Aayog, will be the
chairperson of the advisory group, also consisting of Power Minister Piyush
Goyal and minister of state (energy) from 10 potential states. These 10
potential states include Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra
Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Assam and Punjab. On the other
hand, the second tier will consist of a steering committee, which would be
chaired by Aayog's COO Amitabh Kant, and would have power and renewable energy
secretary and principal secretary (energy) of these 10 states as its members.
"The steering committee will facilitate RE grid
integration and efficient grid operating strategy, afford a coordination
mechanism among different stakeholders at the central and state levels to
implement the aforesaid strategies as well as report the progress of
implementation assembly to the adviser group," the order said.
It was last year that the Aayog had come out with a report on
the country's renewable electricity roadmap 2030, in which it had recommended
that a national renewable energy law or policy should be formulated to define
targets, identify the financial support required for achieving targets and
undertake integrated energy resource planning.
Posted By: BS
