Dr. Rahul Walawalkar, President, India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) shared his views on the Budged 2021 tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman on February 1st . Here is what he said :-
Scrapping Policy
- The announcement about the vehicle scrappage policy is a great opportunity and a welcome step. Under IESA’s EV Adopters Circle, we are looking to help the companies / individuals to evaluate benefits of switching from ICE vehicles to EVs.
AtmaNirbhar Bharat – Production Linked Incentive scheme (PLI)
- This national program holds immense importance as it is going to accelerate the Atmanirbhar Abhiyan in domestic manufacturing, helping India to enter the global value chain for advanced energy storage technologies. IESA is committed to develop India’s robust R&D and manufacturing sector including complete supply chain for manufacturing in coming years.
Innovation & R&D
- We welcome the announcement of `50,000 crores, over 5 years for the National Research Foundation. At IESA, we believe that there is a need for R&D to support the AtmaNirbhar Bharat mission and it is high time for the Indian industry to take up R&D and advanced cell manufacturing so that we reduce our dependence on other countries.
Urban Infrastructure
- The new scheme to support augmentation of public bus transport services can help accelerate adoption of Electric Vehicle in State Transport Undertakings.
MSME
- I applaud the financial influx in the MSME sector and supports the need for an infrastructure fund dedicated to the rural.
Rural Infrastructure Development
- The allocation of Rural Infrastructure Development Fund from `30,000 crores to `40,000 crores is a step in right direction. India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) launched MICRO (Microgrid Initiative for Campus and Rural Opportunities) in 2016 with a goal of improving the economic sustainability of microgrids in India. This initiative addresses the fundamental challenges faced by the developers and funding agencies by creating an ecosystem to make micro-grids viable and efficient and is actively engaging with the community. We are confident that energy storage and microgrids have the potential to transform not just India’s electric grid in next the 5-10 years, but also to help advance energy access challenges around the globe
Hydrogen Energy Mission
- We wholeheartedly welcome the proposed Hydrogen Energy Mission. In line with the industry needs, IESA has already launched the MIGHT- (Mobility and Infrastructure with Green Hydrogen Technology) initiative in 2019 for supporting policies to enable use of green hydrogen in both stationary and mobility sector. We anticipate that advanced chemistry cell battery manufacturing mission and hydrogen mission together can enable India to fast track decolonization of grid, industrial sector and transportation sector in coming decade.
Renewable Energy
- To encourage domestic production, the raising duty on solar invertors increased from 5% to 20%, and on solar lanterns from 5% to 15%. This step will make the country self sufficient and not rely on other countries. Chinese companies manufacturing in India will get an price edge over others.
Capital Equipment and Auto Parts
- An increase in custom duty on auto parts is a step by the Ministry to make the country self-sufficient and reliant. This gives an opportunity for the local manufacturing and OEMs and will boost the sector.
Tax benefit for Start-ups
- Government’s tax holiday for the start-ups will definitely encourage the new innovation in electric vehicle and energy storage startups to flourish in India. This will provide a competitive platform for Indian startups to compete with global players.
Climate Samurai Members support independent journalism at a time when trusted storytelling, climate awareness and community engagement is more important than ever. We have small but strong editorial team that brings you uninfluenced and curated news that you can trust. To support truly independent journalism, please consider taking a subscription which is free like our thought.