The Hydrogen Energy Mission is a notable announcement
Published on : Tuesday 02-02-2021
-Suyash Gupta, Director General, Indian Auto LPG Coalition
February 1, 2021 – While the budget has appropriately focused on healthcare, infrastructure and of course an economic revival, energy transition and renewable energy has also received the Finance Minister's attention. A notable announcement in this regard has been the announcement of the Hydrogen Energy Mission for generating hydrogen from green power sources. Similarly, the budget furthers government's longstanding commitment to non-conventional energy with a capital infusion of Rs 1,000 crores to the Solar Energy Corporation of India and Rs 1,500 crores to the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency. The Finance Minister also announced the extension of the city gas distribution project to 100 additional districts. While all these announcements are highly welcome, we sincerely hope the city gas project is diversified to include Auto LPG in its ambit along with CNG which is the current focus. Despite being one of the cleanest and most easily available gas, Auto LPG remains highly under-utilised in India's transport sector. Inclusion of Autogas in the city gas distribution project will not only allow a wider choice for consumers but will also be a major boost efforts to clean up the environment. We absolutely need a low hanging fruit like Auto LPG, which can be implemented immediately. With 14 of the world top 20 most polluted cities in India, we cannot wait until the next decade to breathe cleaner air," said Mr Suyash Gupta, Director General, Indian Auto LPG Coalition.
In another welcome move, the government has given due importance to environmental concerns and laid out Rs 2,217 crore in allocation for 42 urban centres for efforts to clean up urban pollution. We hope under this outlay, the government also undertakes schemes to encourage and incentivise vehicle owners to switch from petrol/diesel to clean gaseous fuels like Auto LPG and CNG, Mr Gupta added.
Overall, we are satisfied with the budget focus on economic revival, improving public healthcare services, easing of tax compliance and promoting clean energy, he further added.