The much-forgotten India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) could not be more urgently resurrected back to memory than in 2024, which witnessed several record heat waves. In a two-part series, CarbonCopy reports on ICAP’s progressive idea of “thermal comfort for all”. Part one takes a look at how the extreme heat is forcing citizens to turn to expensive active cooling devices such as ACs. Thermal comfort in India, therefore, seems to be only for those who can afford it. Read more
The India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) was a first-of-its-kind initiative to be launched by a country globally to address cooling growth.
India’s cooling action plan: Losing steam amidst surge in temperature, AC sales
The much-forgotten India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) could not be more urgently resurrected back to memory than in 2024, which witnessed several record heat waves. In a two-part series, CarbonCopy reports on ICAP’s progressive idea of “thermal comfort for all”. Part one takes a look at how the extreme heat is forcing citizens to turn to expensive active cooling devices such as ACs. Thermal comfort in India, therefore, seems to be only for those who can afford it.
North India battled one of the lengthiest heat events (April to June, the longest on record) this year with temperatures touching nearly 50°C. Data on the exact number of heat-related deaths is not available, but the government says mortality rate per million for heat waves increased by 62.2% during the last four decades, mostly killing the poor living in window-less crowded homes, too poor to maintain thermal comfort due to the high costs of cooling.
This mortality could have been avoided. Back in 2018, India announced a cooling action plan with the aim to make “thermal comfort” “affordable to all”. The India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) was a first-of-its-kind initiative to be launched by a country globally to address cooling growth. It sought to cut emissions and reduce cooling demand across sectors by 20% to 25% by 2037-38. It also sought to reduce refrigerant demand by 25% to 30% by 2037-38, and cooling energy requirements by 25% to 40% by 2037-38. It recognised “cooling and related areas” as the main thrust of its research. It aimed to train and certify 100,000 servicing sector technicians by 2022-23. The ICAP document also recommended passive cooling measures such as implementation of residential and commercial building norms explained in detail in the Energy Conservation Building Code (revised in 2017), National Building Code and Eco-Niwas Samhita (Energy Conservation Buiding Code-Residential).
In 2024, however, one sees an increasing frequency and length of extreme heat events has pushed more and more people into opting for energy intensive active cooling measures of air conditioners, fans and air coolers, at extortionate costs, defying climate and social targets of efficiency and affordability, set in 2018.
On the whole, as this article will show, the plan, with no clear definition of “thermal comfort” or benchmark for energy efficiency measures for active as well as passive cooling, remains on paper.
“A new AC every 15 seconds”
Compared to the rest of the world, India is just waking up to the idea of individual cooling consumption. The global average per capita energy consumption in space cooling is 272 kWh. The US has the highest per capita consumption (nearly 90% of U.S. households used air conditioning in 2020). India’s average per capita consumption in space cooling is merely 69kWh (used mostly by rich people), one of the lowest across the world, while it needs it the most considering the heat impacts. The ICAP document says only 8% of Indian households own air-conditioning units. But this is set to shoot up. According to state data, under a 2°C warming scenario, in the next 70 years, heat waves in India may become 30 times more frequent than now, and their duration (number of extremely hot days) may increase 200-fold.
This year, Delhi spent almost 40 consecutive days with temperatures at or above 40°C. Future projections of temperature indicate a steady increase across the three periods (2030s, 2050s, 2080s), with anomalies reaching 4-5°C for high emission scenarios by 2080. The signs that energy choices need to change radically now to mitigate emissions and meet the cooling demand are writ large as heatwaves get lengthier and peak electricity demand grows ever higher.
By 2050, China, India and Indonesia will together account for half of the world’s households with ACs, to survive. Not only will more people lose jobs to heat stress (World Bank projects India is likely to lose 34 million jobs, GDP up to $250 billion by 2030) but heat waves will diminish yields of crops such as wheat with deadly consequences. By 2037, the demand for cooling will grow eight times (a new AC every 15 seconds) in India leading to a 435% rise in annual emissions, the World Bank study warns. These aren’t luxury emissions, but those of survival.
This surge in AC sales, however, is creating wider knock-on effects.
Cooling targets vs the overloaded grid
The soaring air conditioner sales and their share of electricity has left the existing grid strained during summer months, forcing engineers to send out warnings of grid disturbance resulting in long power cuts. Last month, a brief power cut disrupted baggage claims and ACs at Delhi airport, but the poorer and rural areas around Delhi are putting up with power cuts every 10 minutes or the whole day. On June 11, an “unprecedented power failure” hit Delhi for hours, including central government buildings after a fire at a power plant in Mandola, Uttar Pradesh, possibly due to the intense heatwave conditions in Delhi-NCR.
High demand and the overload led to an “unprecedented” number of fire incidents in Delhi, including at a LED light manufacturing factory in Mundka, and at Chandni Chowk which destroyed over 200 shops. In May, when Delhi burned at 49.9°C, peak power demand hit 8,000MW. In Punjab, sales of air conditioners and coolers rose by 50% compared with last summer, power consumption increased by 43% in June compared with the same period last year. Things are no different in South India.
In Kerala this summer, engineers “abruptly” had grid management crises at hand when the peak electricity demand came dangerously close twice (5,646 MW on April 29 and 5,606 MW on May 1) to the maximum load of 5,850 MW the lines could carry. Viju Rajan the chief engineer in KSEBL’s transmission wing attributed it to the air conditioners and the charging of electric vehicles overnight. Kerala has witnessed exceptional sales of ACs (compared to usual 10,000-odd AC units sales in March, this year, March sales shot to the highest-ever 1.5 lakh units, according to news portal Manorama). The state also has the highest electric vehicle (EV) penetration rate in two-wheeler (19.5%) and passenger vehicles (6.4%) sections in the country. Last year, when the peak demand touched 5,024 MW, then a top KSEB official said Kerala grid could tackle consumption growth for at least the next five years. “It now looks like the future has arrived abruptly,” wrote the Manorama article. The KSEB self-defence mechanism called Automated Demand Management System (ADMS) automatically shuts the line leading to local power outages. Such outages have become a regular feature since April when temperatures began to rise.
So how does one handle such spikes?
A question of demand management?
The India Cooling Action Plan, is aimed at energy efficiency, but mostly of equipments, says CEEW research, pointing out that energy efficiency interventions primarily comprise appliance replacement or distribution encouraged by the Centre’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL).
There are problems here. According to World Bank recommendations, governments—through target-based programmes—can increase the market share of 5-star refrigerators. But the Centre’s Interim Union Budget (presented in Feb 2024 to achieve net zero by 2070), allocations for efficiency were slashed: there was an over 50% reduction from $16 million last year to $8 million this year, in the allocation to schemes promoting energy conservation and energy efficiency in different sectors of the economy and to the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, mostly due to underutilisation of the allocations over the past two years (the $1,446 million allocated to produce energy-efficient trains marked a 21% increase over last year.)
The latest Budget 2024-25 has left things to the voluntary carbon market (VCM) to generate funds for energy efficiency for hard-to-abate sectors of cement and steel and also MSMEs. This is in contradiction to its own 2023-2024 Economic Survey Report, which warned that India’s export of carbon credits through the VCM will actually make emission reduction expensive and lead to double accounting.
For rooftop solar, the Budget allocation is ₹100 billion (up from ₹48 billion in 2023-24). The rooftop solar scheme is expected to translate to annual savings of almost ₹15,000 per household along with extra money for selling surplus electricity to the distribution companies, as per this ET report. The same report points out that the Budget has not clarified that households will have to pay a minimum of ₹20,000 with the additional payments for the net power supplied and consumed via the grid. Also, the budget speech was silent on major technical glitches with the national portal in the past that resulted in significant delays in rooftop installations and huge financial losses for the solar energy sector. The budget did not acknowledge or compensate for these failures.
There are other problems as well. Energy efficient units in the market remain off-limits as taxes are as high as one pays for luxury goods. Consider this: A low-power consumption cooler costs ₹15,000-₹20,000, with 18% GST, while a high-power consumption AC is taxed the highest at 28% GST. Energy efficient 20W to 30W Brushless Direct Current (BLDC) fan costs as much as ₹5,000 (as opposed to ₹1,100 for a regular fan of 120W) and 12W LED light bulb costs ₹250 to ₹150. Indoor and electric fans can help to maintain thermal comfort, but these too are expensive to buy and inefficient.
The ICAP aims to cut emissions caused by the leakage of refrigerants in air conditioners through trained servicing staff which will prevent these leakages. A study has assessed that the refrigerant gases used presently in air-conditioning systems can lead to significant global warming. The study found that with about 10% leakage rate, R410A—an outdated refrigerant still in use in ACs—alone will be responsible for about 16% of total global warming by 2030. Inefficient R410A and R22 can still be found in the market.
The ICAP’s other target was to get 100,000 trained service technicians. By 2022, the government claimed up-skilling and certification of 43,450 Refrigeration and Air-conditioning (RAC) service technicians had been undertaken. In addition, 29,000 RAC service technicians were being trained as part of implementation of Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) phase out Management Plans under the Montreal Protocol. Considering the massive growth in supply of equipment, are these number of technicians enough? Technicians providing servicing at regular intervals are crucial to reduce energy consumption and mitigate climate change. The current servicing standards in the room air-conditioning segment need substantial improvement, says a CEEW study. Since the publication of the ICAP, a large-scale roll out of recommendations hasn’t happened yet, the report said.
According to this 2023 CEEW report, about 57% RAC technicians received their last training/skill workshop more than five years ago and 40% technicians had no formal training. Over 60% technicians reported little to inadequate knowledge about the new refrigerants. Over 65% technicians had no idea about the government schemes. About 70% technicians reported that customers call for servicing and maintenance only after the unit breaks down.
Looking beyond appliances
Shift the focus to other Demand Side Management (DSM) interventions, such as load shifting and demand response (DR), and you will find these are largely absent on the ground.
Such interventions means more than an automatic switch off during peak load to protect the grid. Researchers at CEEW suggest scaling up DSM through cost-effective integration of renewable energy such as solar and wind energy in the grid while maintaining supply reliability. DSM measures include energy efficiency, shifting load from peak to off-peak hours and influencing the load curve through technologies like distributed generation, energy storage and electric vehicles. However, CEEW research points out that DSM measures have not been implemented at scale in India so far. The paper says there is a need for regulation and enforcement of DSM through distribution companies’ (discoms) planning process. The paper adds that lack of expertise in discoms hinder DSM’s large-scale implementation. The report suggests regulators must update the rules enabling discoms to include DSM in resource adequacy plans.
Therefore, the report says, poor enforcement of reliability standards lessens discoms’ incentives to implement DSM, and they use load shedding as the alternative. The CEEW researchers also found the staff lacking the necessary expertise to conduct/supervise technical potential and load research studies, cost-effectiveness tests etc. DSM cells are often inactive and contain staff for whom DSM is an ad hoc responsibility, researchers say.
The same study recommends that supporting grid-scale energy storage and demand-side management with renewable sources such as solar and wind is a cost-effective way to integrate variable RE (VRE).
India aims to integrate at least 500 GW of non-fossil power generation capacity by 2030, of which about 400 GW will be renewable. The CEEW report points out DSM will be critical for cost-effective Variable Renewable Energy (VRE) integration. For instance, shifting load to solar hours from non-solar hours can help increase the utilisation of VRE sources. Modifying the load profile instead of treating it as a constraint can help integrate more RE sooner and with lower system costs and emissions.
There is a large question here. Two-thirds of India live on less than US$2 a day, and where the average cost of an air-conditioning unit can vary between US$260 and US$500, air-cooling systems are a luxury available only to a few. The ICAP acknowledges thermal comfort for all – provision for cooling for EWS and LIG housing. But ACs remain inaccessible to most of the Indian population. On the other hand, extreme heat is not even acknowledged as a disaster. As the first half of this report has shown, ACs are a suboptimal solution for other reasons as well such as their impact on the grid, etc. Another potential solution to meeting India’s cooling needs is passive cooling. But there are obstacles there as well as we will see in the Part 2 of this story.
Read Part 2 here.
Till July 30, 36% of India’s districts — 267 of 742 — have received deficient or ‘large deficient’ rains.
Despite 2% above normal rain so far, 36% districts remain rain deficient across India
July ends with 9-10% excess rain across the country, taking the whole season’s total so far to 2% above normal, reported TOI citing IMD data. The weather office said the monsoon’s distribution remains somewhat skewed, with central and south India having received bountiful rain and the country’s northwest and east so far staring at big deficits: till July 30, 36% of India’s districts — 267 of 742 — have received deficient or ‘large deficient’ rains.
The newspaper added that the rain deficient districts include all districts of Jharkhand (24) and Gangetic Bengal (15), 33 of 38 districts of Bihar, 19 of 22 districts each in Punjab and Haryana, five of nine in Delhi, nine of 12 in Himachal & 15 of 20 in J&K. June recorded 12% rain deficiency across the country, HT reported.
Monsoon fury: Deadly landslides hit Meppadi, in Kerala’s Wayanad; 150 bodies found, hundreds feared trapped
Massive landslides struck the hilly areas of Kerala’s Wyanad district. More than 50 houses were destroyed in the landslide that completely swept away the little town of Mundakkai, reports Manorama. The death toll climbed to 150 with several persons reportedly trapped or missing. The state has declared 2-day mourning. Schools and colleges are shut. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued ‘orange’ alert predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall till August 3. According to local officials, most of the victims worked in tea estates and lived at the base of plantations. 3,069 people are in 45 relief camps in Wayanad alone. The heavy rainfall is hampering rescue operations. According to Manorama, the landslides have destroyed the main bridge in Chooralmala, trapping many individuals in various locations affected by the landslides. Mundakkai was hit twice over a period of 4 decades before the latest one wipe it off, reported Manorama.
News agency PTI quotes scientists who said the landslides in Kerala could be the result of a combination of climate change, excessive mining and loss of forest cover in the region. The newswire said a 2021 study on landslide hotspots in India revealed that 59% per cent of the total landslides in Kerala occurred in plantation areas. The report cited 2022 study that found 62% forests in the district disappeared between 1950 and 2018 while plantation cover rose by around 1,800%. The report also mentioned a study that found around 85% of the total area of Wayanad was under forest cover until the 1950s. S Abhilash, director of the Advanced Centre for Atmospheric Radar Research at Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) told PTI: “Our research found that the southeast Arabian Sea is becoming warmer, causing the atmosphere above this region, including Kerala, to become thermodynamically unstable.”
The landslides are along the proposed ambitious 4-lane Anakkampoyil-Kalladi-Meppadi twin tunnel road project cutting through the core region of Western Ghats. Heavy rains have frequently exposed the eco fragility of the region. Earlier the Hindu reported that the tunnel alignment passes through highly fragile terrain prone to landslips.
3 students drown after basement of IAS coaching centre gets flooded with rain water
Three students, including two girls, drowned after the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle in Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar was flooded with rain water on Saturday. The water from the road flooded the library in the basement. There were 30 students in all at the coaching centre. Twenty-seven either escaped or were rescued, TOI reported.
The rescue efforts required the intervention of divers. Students at the spot described the situation as “horrific” and one they had never imagined being caught in. Some students also claimed a similar condition a week ago when the street there had waist-deep rainwater. Indian Express reported that the Met department’s PUSA weather station, closest to Old Rajinder Nagar, had reported 31.5 mm of rain between 5.30 pm and 8.30 pm on Saturday.
Karnataka to appeal for equal treatment of Traditional Forest Dwellers
The Karnataka government is set to appeal to the Centre to amend the Schedule Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, 2006, and the rules made under it to treat other traditional forest dwellers equally with forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribe communities, reported the New Indian Express. The state’s Forest, Environment, and Ecology Minister Eshwar B Khandre said 9,136.27 acres belonging to dwellers, including farmers, was acquired to construct the Linganamakki Dam, but the land owners were not notified even though the families have been living in the vacated space for the past 50- 60 years.
“The government has filed an interlocutory petition in the Supreme Court. The same is the case with the Forest Rights Act. In 2006, the Centre implemented the Act, and framed rules in 2008. But the rules have not been notified by the Ministry of Tribal Welfare. But is applicable to the Forest Department. Forest rights are being availed of by the STs living in forests and depending on forests for their livelihood before December 2005. However, the other forest dwellers, have to submit documents to prove that their three generations were staying in the forests to get the benefits under the Forest Rights Act. The Centre must amend the Acts…,” Minister informed the Karnataka Assembly.
Oil and gas exploration likely to threaten Hoolock Gibbon habitat in Assam
The Centre’a green signal to exploratory oil and gas drilling in parts of Assam may put the endangered Hoolock Gibbon at further risk, HT reported. According to the report, Cairn India, the oil and gas unit of the Anil Agarwal-promoted Vedanta Ltd wants to use 4.4998ha of reserved forest land for oil and gas exploration drilling in the notified eco-sensitive zone of the Hoollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary, official documents showed. The newspaper said while the forest advisory committee (FAC) of the ministry has deferred its decision, according to minutes of its meeting dated July 4, the project has the blessings of both the state government and the regional office of the environment ministry.
Dilip Chetry, a senior primatologist, who has specialised in the species, explained to the newspaper how the exploration will impact the ecology: “The Hoolock Gibbon is a canopy dweller. Their movement is restricted if their habitat is fragmented. Canopy-based animals just cannot move if any project, be it oil and gas exploration or mining, logging, encroachments, other development projects, agriculture fragments even a small part of the habitat. Gibbons are an indicator for other species. Wherever there are gibbons, there are other primates, schedule 1 species, all other species. So Hoolock Gibbons are a flagship species. They form close-knit families and are monogamous.”
14 years after Gadgil report, Western Ghats eco-sensitive zones yet to be notified
Fourteen years after the first such demarcation was recommended by ecologist Madhav Gadgil’s committee in 2011, the Western Ghats ecologically sensitive areas are yet to be notified by the Union environment ministry, reported HT.
The newspaper added that the Gadgil panel had recommended 75% of the 129,037 sq km area of the Western Ghats be declared environmentally sensitive because of its dense forests and the presence of a large number of endemic species. Many states found it too restrictive. A second panel, headed by rocket scientist K Kasturirangan, scaled down the area to 50%. The Kasturirangan report’s recommendations were further diluted, and four draft notifications have since been issued.
The Centre informed the Lok Sabha that in order to protect the rich biodiversity of Western Ghats, it has issued draft Notification on Western Ghats Eco-Sensitive Area with an area of 56,825 square kilometre spreading over six States (Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu). “The States have persistently asked for modification in the Eco-Sensitive Area (ESA) included in the aforesaid draft notification,” government said.
In the latest iteration of the notification (before a new draft was finalised), the area to be notified as an ESA has been shrunk to approximately 37% of the Western Ghats, the HT report said.
California wildfire burns 3,60,000 acres; 8,000 people ordered to evacuate
A devastating wildfire that began last week in California’s “Park Fire” burned through 360,000 acres of land, becoming the largest active blaze in the state, the Independent reported. The report said that a man accused of starting the fire by pushing a burning car into a gully has been arrested on suspicion of intentional arson. According to media reports, nearly 4,000 firefighters are battling the blaze, which has forced some 4,200 people to evacuate their homes. Times reported that “At least 100 structures have been destroyed or damaged and 4,000 more remain under threat, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.” It adds that evacuation orders have been issued to more than 8,000 people, but some are refusing to leave their homes
Canadian wildfires: Famous Rockies resort of Jasper on fire as thousands flee
Wildfires have forced more than 25,000 people to evacuate from the Canadian tourist destination of Jasper, BBC reported, adding that the fire has spread through the national park, causing “significant loss” within the local town. The news outlet said hundreds of wildfires have sparked in the western provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, as the “region has been hit by more than 58,000 lightning strikes within the last week, sparking new blazes after a three-week heatwave”.
Antarctic may be taking up 25% more CO2 than previously thought
The Antarctic (Southern Ocean) may be taking up 25% more CO2 than previously thought, found a new study. Using measurements of the CO2 exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere from seven Southern Ocean research cruises, alongside other datasets, researchers model the total CO2 uptake around Antarctica from November to April. They find that ocean models and other datasets “considerably underestimate the observed CO2 uptake”, which they say “may be due to the lack of representation of small-scale high-flux events”. They conclude that higher resolution is needed when making CO2 flux estimates in order to accurately quantify the fluxes.
Tree bark helps remove methane from atmosphere, study finds
Microbes in tree bark play a “vital role in removing methane from the atmosphere”, researchers have found in their new study that shows trees “have an extra climate benefit thanks to methane-eating microbes”, reported the Guardian. Citing the research the newspaper said microbes living in the bark of trees are absorbing methane from the air, making trees about 10% better for the climate than previously thought.
Air New Zealand drops 2030 carbon target
Air New Zealand has withdrawn its 2030 emissions reduction target, making it “the first major airline to row back on climate aspirations”, Reuters reported, adding that the airline had promised to reduce its carbon intensity by 28.9% by 2030 compared with 2019 levels. The report says the airline cited “delivery delays of fuel-efficient aircraft and high green fuel prices” in its decision, but said it was still committed to the industry-wide target of reaching net-zero by 2050.
The newswire said climate has been a significant part of Air New Zealand corporate messaging for some time. The firm wants to conduct a demonstration flight of an electric plane by 2026 and in December ordered an all-electric five-seat plane. The airline’s 2023 sustainability report describes the 2030 target as aspirational and challenging, with some factors out of its control.”
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government will develop a taxonomy for climate finance to increase availability of capital for climate action (finance for adaptation and mitigation projects).
Budget 2024-25: Govt mentions climate resilience and adaptation; taxonomy to create climate finance, new thermal power plant, shift to carbon credit market
Centre announced its 2024-25 budget touching upon climate change issues such as resilience and adaptation. While the FM acknowledged flash floods, cloudbursts and landslides in Bihar, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim, and promised assistance to these regions, details on what this assistance would look like were missing.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government will develop a taxonomy for climate finance to increase availability of capital for climate action (finance for adaptation and mitigation projects). This taxonomy has been in the works for a long time, but progress has been slow. Sitharaman said the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, which was launched to install rooftop solar plants to enable 10 million households to get free electricity up to 300 units per month has generated a “remarkable response” with more than 12.8 million registrations and 1.4 million applications. Missing from her speech, however, was any acknowledgement of the glitches and errors on the government’s national registration portal that has led to a significant loss of business for vendors.
The budget proposed “required fiscal support” for a joint venture between NTPC & BHEL to set up a full-scale 800 MW commercial thermal plant using Advanced Ultra Supercritical (AUSC) technology indigenously. The budget speech mentioned forming a pathway for “hard to abate” industries to shift from energy efficiency targets to “emission targets”. The minister said appropriate regulations for transition of these industries from the current ‘Perform, Achieve and Trade’ (PAT) mode to ‘Indian Carbon Market’ mode will be put in place. However, the finance ministry’s 2023-2024 Economic Survey Report, which is released a day before the country’s annual budget, said India’s export of carbon credits through the voluntary carbon market (VCM) will actually make emission reduction expensive and lead to double accounting
Finance panel rejected request to include extreme heat on natural disasters’ list
The government told Parliament it has no plan to classify heatwaves as a notified disaster which will make it eligible for financial assistance under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 even as the country experienced unprecedented heatwaves this year, which have killed hundreds of people.
The government said the 15th Finance Commission considered the issue of including more calamities in the existing notified list of calamities, but declined to include heatwaves on the notified disaster list. Centre said : “The Commission, in para 8.143 of its report, had observed that the list of notified disasters eligible for funding from State Disaster Mitigation Fund and National Disaster Mitigation Fund covers the needs of the state to a large extent and thus did not find much merit in the request to expand its scope,”
Presently the notified list of disasters eligible for National Disaster Response Fund/State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) assistance includes 12 disasters: Cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood, tsunami, hailstorm, landslide, avalanche, cloud burst, pest attack and frost and cold wave.
Supreme Court: States have a right to tax mining activities
India’s top court has said states have the power to tax mining activities and collecting “royalties” from mining leaseholders is entirely separate from, and does not interfere with, the power to impose taxes, Indian Express reports.
According to DTE, this has effectively brought the debate on the issue of taxing minerals between the Centre and the states to an end. The bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, also established that the royalty paid for mining by the lessee to the lessor (state) is not to be classified as ‘tax’. Earlier, the Centre held that it had the legislative authority to tax mineral rights under Entry 54 of List 1 of the Constitution.
However, the Supreme Court clarified that since the power to tax mineral rights is enumerated in Entry 50 of List 2, Parliament cannot use its legislative powers to impose taxes on mining in the respective states, DTE reported.
The crucial State of Forest report delayed by over a year
The State of Forest report by the Forest Survey of India is delayed by over a year now, HT reported adding that the last such report, which is supposed to be released biennially, came out in 2021. The State of the Forest reports are required to give accurate details of “unclassed” or “deemed” forests in each district as per the state expert committee reports, something which has not been done, HT report stated.
The newspaper said there is speculation that the report will have to factor in certain provisions under the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act of 2023 although Forest Survey of India officials maintain that this isn’t the case and that the collection of information took time. Citing a senior official of Forest Survey of India, without naming him, the newspaper stated that the government wants to give information about forest cover in all newly formed districts but “getting boundaries of these districts took some time. The report will be released soon. The report doesn’t need to factor the new provisions because the mandate is different,”
The newspaper wrote that the FC Amendment Act or the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam 2023 which was passed last year exempts unrecorded deemed forests, paving way for their diversion for infrastructure and other projects. The report pointed out that last year, 11 retired government officials, including some from the forest and environment departments and two environmental activists challenged the new amendment in the Supreme Court. The apex court gave an interim order on February 19 upholding the order of the 1996 Godavarman judgment which defined forests as per the dictionary meaning of the word irrespective of ownership.
Rampant sand mining in Karbi Anglong area, Supreme Court alerted
Assam’s rives Deithor and Rangsali are being dug up for sand mining and stone quarrying with heavy machinery in violation of Supreme Court’s orders, a complaint sent to the Supreme Court’s Central Empowered Committee has flagged, HT reported adding that the two rivers play a vital role in maintaining the ecosystem of the region adjoining the rivers: Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve and Kaziranga – Karbi Anglong Elephant Reserve.
The newspaper published the letter the environmentalist Mukrang Engleng wrote to CEC: “The impact of sand mining through machinery in the Deithor and Rangsali rivers has led to habitat destruction, erosion of river banks, alteration of river flow patterns, and disruption of aquatic ecosystems. It has also resulted in loss of biodiversity, the fish populations have also declined drastically, and degradation of water quality has also increased drastically posing health risk to both human and animal lives. Furthermore, sand mining has exacerbated flooding, as it alters the natural sediment balance of the river. Socially and economically, it has affected communities that rely on rivers for livelihoods, such as fishing and agriculture”.
India to lose 0.05% of GDP to CBAM, should impose ‘historical polluter tax’ on EU: Report
The European Union’s carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will impose an additional 25% tax on carbon-intensive goods exported from India to the EU, states a new report by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). The report recommended a counter-tax on rich countries historically responsible for climate change.
CBAM is the block’s proposed tax on energy-intensive products, such as iron, steel, cement, fertilizers and aluminium imported from countries like India and China. This added tax would represent 0.05% of India’s GDP, according to the report titled “The Global South’s response to a changing trade regime in the era of climate change”. These findings are based on data from the past three years (2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24). The tax is imposed for the carbon emissions generated during the production of these goods. The EU says CBAM creates a level playing field for domestically manufactured goods, which must adhere to stricter environmental standards, and helps reduce emissions from imports.
COP29 chief’s letter to member nations says new climate finance goal will be top priority for Baku deal
Countries should enhance their climate plans to make them 1.5°C compliant and put in place finances to achieve those plans, Mukhtar Babayev, president of the United Nations COP29, has said. in the first letter sent to all 198 member countries of the UN Climate Convention, Babayev said: “The COP29 Presidency’s top negotiating priority is agreeing a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance (NCQG) adequate to the urgency and scale of the problem, taking into account the needs and priorities of developing country parties. Our efforts should include the full scope and potential of the resources that need to be made available.”
The COP29 climate talks will take place in Azerbaijan from November 11-22, in a year of elections.
Chhattisgarh villages oppose public hearing on mines planned in area under 99% forest cover
Gram panchayats of six villages in Chhattisgarh have opposed a public hearing notice to allow the environmental clearance for the Kente Extension Opencast Coal Mine of 9 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in a lease area of 1,760 hectares (ha). The panchayats say the data is outdated and does not address environmental concerns. As per official records 99% of the area is under forest cover. HT reported that the draft environment impact assessment (EIA) report of the project was published in March 2021 while data collected was from a study period during October to December 2019. The panchayats say the data is over three years old and may not reflect the current circumstances on ground, they have said.
HT quoted Shripal Porte, Basen sarpanch, saying: “We have objected to the public hearing for multiple reasons. The most important is that this is a very old and dense forest. It’s not a small area with trees. These trees are thousands of years old. They give us food, water and medicine. We do not want them to be cleared.”
A little over half of India’s 605 rivers were found to be polluted by the Central Pollution Control Board in 2022.
India’s untreated solid waste contributes to 10% of global waste entering world’s rivers: Study
India, with its massive landfills and poor waste segregation practices, may become one of the top contributors of pollution entering the world’s rivers. Municipal solid waste from India contributed to 10% of waste leakage to the world’s rivers in 2020, according to a new study.
Mongabay reported the findings according to which in future scenarios where population growth is high, but urbanisation slow, India and China will face an increase of leakage into rivers due to the growth of rural population living close to water courses in 2025. The outlet reports that a little over half of India’s 605 rivers were found to be polluted by the Central Pollution Control Board in 2022.
SC deletes 2017 order: PUC certificate not mandatory to renew third-party car insurance
The Supreme Court withdrew its own 2017 order that made a valid pollution under control (PUC) certificate mandatory for renewal of third-party insurance policy stating that if said direction is allowed to be implemented in letter and spirit, it will have disastrous consequences as some vehicles will continue to ply without third-party insurance, reported the HT.
The order came on a plea by the General Insurance Council (GIC) – an apex body of insurance firms. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, representing GIC, submitted that the order of the court was proving detrimental for motor accident victims as nearly 55% vehicles do not have insurance cover. This posed great difficulty for victims seeking settlement of compensation claims in road accidents.
Green court raps Haryana chief secy, orders action against Yamunanagar officials allowing illegal mining of minerals and cutting trees
India’s green court, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), has directed the Chief Secretary of Haryana to probe the district administration, Yamunanagar, for encouraging large-scale illegal mining of minerals in an area. Kohliwala and Mandewala villages falling under Bhudkala panchayat (156 acres land) have witnessed illegal mining since 2016. NGT has also received complaints of felling of khair trees in the region.
The court order reads: “We also find that so far as Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) is concerned, it has not taken any action under provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and other environmental statutes. The HSPCB took no punitive action by initiating criminal action under the provisions. No environmental compensation has been imposed upon any violator(s)…This conduct of officials of HSPCB shows apparent collusion with violators and negligence whereby they are abating the crime by not taking appropriate action against violators.”
State officials told court that 1,615 vehicles were seized transporting illegal minerals from August 2019 to February 28, 2023, and a sum of Rs 17,90,65,142 towards compensation and Rs 1,45,59,880 towards royalty price on mineral and fine, etc., was recovered.
Philippines: Industrial oil spill reaches coast, threatens livelihoods in fishing village
An industrial fuel oil spill from a marine tanker that capsized off the coast of Manila Bay in the Philippines has reached the shores of a nearby fishing village, threatening the health and livelihood of fishermen, Nikki Asia reported, adding that efforts began to mop up the fuel.
The outlet said MT Terra Nova was carrying 1.5 million litres of industrial fuel when it sank in rough seas off the coast of Limay in the province of Bataan, west of the Philippine capital, on Thursday. The report said one member of the 17-strong crew was killed.
The toxic oil slick landed on the shores Tanza in Cavite province, south of Manila. Fishermen are distraught and they reported smelling a foul odour. “This oil spill will have a big effect on us fishermen because we rely on the sea and it has been affected by the oil,” the report quoted 48-year-old Renan Honsana.
Tanker carrying 1.4 million litres (369,840 gallons) of industrial fuel could become the worst oil spill in the country’s history, reported Al Jazeera, adding that the ship sank in the ocean that turned rough because of Typhoon Gaemi.
Paris Olympics: Men’s Triathlon postponed due to Seine pollution concerns
Hours before the event, men’s Olympic triathlon was postponed on Tuesday following a 3.30am inspection of the Seine river, which found that pollution levels were still too high for athletes to safely swim in, The Guardian reported. Officials said heavy rain over Paris on Friday and Saturday had compelled them to “reschedule the event for health reasons.”
The race has been rescheduled for 10.45am on Wednesday. The official statement said: “Unfortunately, meteorological events beyond our control, such as the rain which fell over Paris on 26 and 27 July, can alter water quality and compel us to reschedule the event for health reasons. Despite the improvement on the water quality levels in the last hours, the readings at some points of the swim course are still above the acceptable limits.”
The outlet reported that swimming in the Seine has been banned for over a century. But since 2015, organisers have spent around £1bn to ensure a cleaner river for the Games – and to allow Parisians to swim in it afterwards.
US: EPA grants $4.3bn to fund projects in 30 states to reduce climate pollution
America’s Environmental Protection Agency is awarding $4.3 billion in grants to fund projects in 30 states to reduce climate pollution, reported AP, adding that the money will go to 25 projects targeting greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, electric power, commercial and residential buildings, industry, agriculture and waste and materials management.
The grants are paid for by the 2022 the Inflation Reduction Act, and include nearly $400 billion in spending and tax credits to accelerate the expansion of clean energy such as wind and solar power, speeding the nation’s transition away from the oil, coal and natural gas that largely cause climate change.
The newswire reported that the latest round of grants includes $396 million to Pennsylvania to reduce industrial greenhouse gas emissions from cement, asphalt and other material.
Nearly $500 million will be given for transportation and freight decarbonisation at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The grants will provide incentives for electric-charging equipment, zero-emission freight vehicles and conversion of cargo-handling equipment to lower emissions.
The lead time for procuring 220 kV transformers has increased from 8-9 months to nearly 14 months, reports say.
Transformer shortage threatens India’s solar expansion: Study
Solar developers have to wait longer for power transformers as manufacturing capacity for this key component in large-scale solar projects has failed to keep pace with demand, slowing solar deployment in India, a study by Mercom found.
The outlet added that approximately 143 GW of large-scale solar projects are under various stages of development and another 96 GW of solar projects are pending auction, the demand for transformers is exploding, according to Q1 2024, the Mercom India Research.
The lead time for procuring 220 kV transformers has increased from 8-9 months to nearly 14 months, the report quoted Ashish Agarwal, Head of Solar and Storage at BluePine Energy, a renewable energy developer.
“Many Indian engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractors are undertaking projects overseas and utilizing the Indian supply chain, leading to increased exports of power transformers,” Agarwal said.
Solar glass for manufacture of solar cells or solar modules will attract 10% Customs duty from Oct 1
According to India’s Budget 2024-25, solar glass for manufacture of solar cells or solar modules will attract 10% Customs duty from October 1 this year, reported PV Magazine, and other media houses. Tinned copper interconnect for manufacture of solar cells or solar modules will also attract 5% Customs duty from October 1.
“In view of sufficient domestic manufacturing capacity of solar glass and tinned copper interconnect, I propose not to extend the exemption of Customs duties provided to them,” said the finance minister in her budget speech.
The outlet added that Customs duty exemption on active energy controller (AEC) for use in the manufacture of renewable power system inverters will also lapse from September 30.
India’s RE share at 19.19% in energy mix, generated 61.8 BU RE in 2024-25 up to May 2024: Centre
The share of renewable energy in India’s total energy mix is at 19.19%, the government told Parliament. India generated 61.84 billion units (BU) of renewable energy in 2024-25 up to May 2024, Pralhad Joshi, minister of new and renewable energy told Parliament on July 24, 2024, ET reported.
The minister cited the data from Central Electricity Authority, shared the details of annual electricity generation from new and renewable energy sources in India, alongwith with its percentage share of total electricity generation from the past three years and the current year.
In 2021-22, the clean energy generation stood at 330 BU comprising 22.12% share of the total energy generation. The country generated 372.9 BU of green energy. In 2022-23, renewable energy electricity generation constituted 22.9% share of the total energy mix. In 2023-25, India generated 364.6 BU of clean energy, a 20.9% share of the total generation.
Indian and Canadian solar firms join forces to set up US factory
India’s solar firm Premier Energies and Canada’s Heliene are planning a 1-gigawatt solar cell factory in the United States to satisfy America’s demand for domestically made solar energy equipment, Reuters reported. Heliene and Premier Energies expect to begin production at their facility in the second quarter of 2026. The factory will be located in the Minneapolis, Minnesota, area. Solar manufacturers are counting on a new 10% tax credit to project developers when their facilities use American-made panels to drive demand for their products, the report explained.
The newswire said the US solar manufacturing industry needs a domestic supply of cells, the building blocks of solar panels, in order to make products that can qualify for a generous new subsidy for American-made clean energy equipment.
Currently, there are no US suppliers of silicon solar cells, and President Biden’s administration has been seeking to build up the domestic industry to compete with China.
The facility will supply Heliene’s existing US module factories, which are located in Minnesota.
Reliance starts pilots for massive solar, battery storage projects in Jamnagar
Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries started pilots of its solar and battery energy storage projects in Jamnagar ahead of its start of production of 9.6 GW modules later this year, the Hindu BusinessLine reported. Ambani’s massive giga complex will spread over 5,000 acres as part of its new energy business, with an investment of over $10 billion.
The news outlet explained that the main components of the green energy ecosystem are the integrated solar modules, battery storage system and renewable energy feeding into the modular electrolysers that will be producing green hydrogen, which will be converted by fuel cells into electricity.
Reliance has already set the entire value chain for around $1.5 billion. It secured 74,750 hectare land for green hydrogen production from the Gujarat government. It got six plots from the Deendayal Port Authority to set up units to produce green hydrogen and green ammonia. It reapplied for Production-Linked Incentives (PLI) scheme for the manufacturing of 10 GWh Advanced Chemistry Cells. The company had secured PLI for ACC storage of 5 GWh in an earlier round in 2022, while it has also won PLIs for solar modules.
China adds 102.48 GW of solar in first half of 2024
Energy news outlet PV magazine reported that between January and June 2024, China has added a total of 102.48 gigawatts (GW) of solar installations, of which centralised solar plants make up 48%, according to data released by the National Energy Administration. By the end of June, the country’s total solar capacity reached 712.93 GW, the outlet added.
Total power generation capacity hit roughly 3.07 TW, up 14.1% from last year. Total installed wind power capacity also expanded to around 470 GW, marking a 19.9% increase. The nation added 216.88 GW of new PV capacity in 2023, up 148.12% increase from 2022.
The lithium deposits, situated in the Mandya district's Marlagalla area, are important for India's renewable energy industry.
Critical minerals discovered: 1,600 tonnes of lithium resources found in Karnataka
Jitendra Singh, the Union minister of State for science and technology, said the Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD) had found 1,600 tonnes of lithium deposits in Karnataka. This finding, which is situated in the Mandya district’s Marlagalla area, is important for India’s renewable energy industry. The declaration was provided in a written response to a Rajya Sabha unstarred question. The minister explained that in order to evaluate lithium deposits, basic surveys and limited subsurface drilling had also been carried out in the Karnataka district of Yadgiri. The AMD is also actively investigating possible geological domains in parts of Korba district, Chhattisgarh. The AMD has found significant mica belts in Rajasthan, Bihar, and Andhra Pradesh in addition to pegmatite belts in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Karnataka.
Investment for EMPS enhanced to ₹778 crore to boost EV adoption
The Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme 2024 (EMPS 2024) has been extended to September 30, 2024, with an increase in its overall investment from ₹500 crore to ₹778 crore, according to the ministry of heavy industries. The programme, which was first set to run from April 1 to July 31, 2024, attempts to increase the number of electric cars (EVs) being adopted in India. The ₹778 crore enhanced outlay is divided into ₹769.65 crore for demand incentives and subsidies for electric two- and three-wheelers, and ₹8.35 crore for scheme administration, which includes Project Management Agency fees and Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) activities. The program’s updated goal is to assist 5,60,789 electric vehicles, which includes 60,709 electric three-wheelers and 5,00,080 electric two-wheelers. The incentives will be available only for EVs equipped with advanced batteries in order to encourage advanced technologies. The scheme is fund-limited, and the EVs are restricted to targeted numbers for each defined category.
PLI, FAME-II and ACC battery storage helped auto industry grow: Economic Survey
Several government initiatives supported the automobile sector in fiscal year 2024 (FY24), when the nation produced around 49 lakh passenger cars, 9.9 lakh three-wheelers, 214.7 lakh two-wheelers, and 10.7 lakh commercial vehicles, according to the Economic Survey. The National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) battery storage, approved in May 2021 with a budgetary outlay of ₹18,100 crore, phase II of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME II), approved with an outlay of ₹11,500 crore for five years during FY20 to FY24, and other policies like these had a significant positive impact on the industry’s growth, according to the Survey. For example, under the FAME-II, the government incentivised a total of 1.66 lakh electric four wheelers, 11,70,200 of electric two-wheelers, 1,30,300 and 4,600 buses during these five years.
China doubles EV subsidy to counter economic slowdown
China increased its efforts to boost its flagging economy by doubling incentives for electric cars purchased to replace older models and abruptly lowering a key policy rate. Customers who switch to electric vehicles from conventional cars will be eligible for a subsidy of 20,000 yuan (US$2,770) per vehicle—double the 10,000 yuan that was initially proposed in April. Since 2020, one of the economies’ bright spots on the mainland has been EVs. Around 856,000 plug-in hybrid and pure electric cars were supplied to Chinese customers in June, representing a 28.6% rise in comparison to the same month last year.
CIL has partnered with Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) to establish Bharat Coal Gasification and Chemicals (BCGCL).
Coal India partners with BHEL to set up coal-gasification plant
Formalising its ambitions for coal gasification and coal-to-chemical, Coal India entered a market that has been the subject of decades of inter-ministerial dispute. CIL has partnered with Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) to establish Bharat Coal Gasification and Chemicals (BCGCL), which intends to use CIL’s coal mines to generate almost 6,60,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate. Officials estimated that the project will cost approximately ₹11,782 crore in total, of which ₹1,350 crore will go towards creating a detailed feasibility study (DFR). CIL and BHEL collaborated to establish BCGCL as a joint venture in May 2024. BHEL owns 49% of the shares, while CIL owns 51%.
Coal demand to stay flat through 2025: IEA
The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that global coal demand will remain relatively consistent this year and next despite the rapidly growing share of renewable energy sources. This is because rising electricity demand in some key nations counteracts the effects of a slow recovery in hydropower and the rapid spread of solar and wind power. The two biggest coal-consuming countries in the world, China and India, saw robust growth in 2023, contributing to a 2.6% increase in global coal use to an all-time high. While coal demand grew in both the electricity and industrial sectors, the main driver was the use of coal to fill the gap created by low hydropower output and rapidly rising electricity demand.
Coal to stay at the centre of energy system for next two decades: Economic Survey
According to the 2023–24 Economic Survey, coal is predicted to remain the mainstay of the Indian energy system for the next 20 years, and the phase-down of the dry fuel would be significantly reliant on the import of essential minerals needed for renewable energy and battery storage. To avoid system risks and pursue low-emission paths in compliance with national commitments, India would prioritise a diverse range of energy security sources, with a major role for thermal power, including coal to provide base load. The survey said that integrating renewable energy with nuclear energy and biofuels research offers a way to accomplish these goals. Policy initiatives for cleaner coal like the Coal Gasification Mission, extraction of Coal Bed Methane gases, exploring Coal to Hydrogen, Carbon Capture and Storage, and Coal beneficiation through washeries, etc, ultra super-critical technologies for coal power plants need to be encouraged, the survey added.
Rich western countries leading oil and gas expansion
A surge in new oil and gas exploration in 2024 threatens to unleash nearly 12 billion tonnes of planet-heating emissions, with the world’s wealthiest countries – such as the US and the UK – leading a stampede of fossil fuel expansion, the Guardian reported. The new oil and gas field licences forecast to be awarded across the world this year are on track to generate the highest level of emissions since those issued in 2018, as heatwaves, wildfires, drought and floods cause death and destruction globally, according to analysis of industry data by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). Classic “petrostates” such as Saudi Arabia or Russia – which rely heavily on oil and gas revenues to balance their budgets – have faced criticism for slowing action on the climate crisis. Yet countries including the UK, the US, Canada, Norway and Australia are increasingly being thought of by some experts as the “other petrostates”, given they have access to financial and technological resources that would make the energy transition less disruptive.
