Gujarat, Kerala, Punjab best in energy efficiency & sustainability: Niti Aayog

Gujarat has topped the Niti Aayog’s State Energy and Climate Index-Round 1 (SECI) among larger states, which is aimed at ranking states and Union territories (UTs) on six parameters including discoms’ performance, energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.

Gujarat was followed by Kerala and Punjab, according to the government think tank’s report. States like Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand were placed at the bottom.

Among the smaller states, Goa topped the Aayog’s index, followed by Tripura and Manipur.

The State Energy and Climate Index (SECI) Round-1 ranks states and UTs on six parameters — discoms’ performance; access affordability and reliability of energy; clean energy initiatives; energy efficiency; environmental sustainability; and new initiatives.

Based on the outcome of SECI Round-1 scores, states and union territories have been categorised into three groups — front runners, achievers, and aspirants.

Potential challenges

The index can be used by the states and UTs to benchmark their performance against their peers, analyse the potential challenges to develop better policy mechanisms, and efficiently manage their energy resources.

In terms of energy efficiency, larger states like Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have done well, while in terms of DISCOM’s performance, two small UTs Dadra and Nagar Haveli have done well.

The report suggests paradigm shift in energy transformations as countries migrate to clean energy and adopt net-zero pathways. The findings of the report assume importance in the backdrop of COP26 climate conference in Glasgow when countries emphatically recognised and committed to act on threats posed by climate change. As things stand today, energy discourse has firmly added sustainability to its portfolio along with traditional factors such as access, affordability, and energy security.

Green-minded population

The report states that demography of energy consumers in India will be dominated by a green-minded young population that will consume more energy per capita than their predecessors due to “better lifestyle aspirations”.

It calls for peer-to-peer learning among states to leverage a multitude of technological choices. The document also intends to create awareness among citizens in terms of energy and climate indicators and to initiate debate for better energy and climate-related services.