AMN / NEW DELHI
Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan today said that the country is creating a global model of energy justice by balancing its accessibility and affordability. Mr. Pradhan said that India will chart its own strategy and pathway for green energy transition. He said this at the Joint Conference of the 11th World PetroCoal Congress and World Future Fuel Summit in New Delhi.
Talking about a range of steps undertaken by the government, the Minister highlighted the increase in LPG coverage from 56 per cent to nearly 99.5 per cent in less than seven years. He also mentioned that to reduce vehicular pollution, the country leapfrogged from BS-4 to BS-6 emission standards from April last year. On the gas-based economy, Mr. Pradhan said that investment of 60 billion US dollars is underway for developing gas infrastructure which includes pipelines, city gas distribution and LNG regasification terminals. He said that One Nation, One-Gas Grid will connect all corners of the country.
Mr. Pradhan said that the Solar Capacity of our country increased by 13 times in the last six years. He also informed that nearly 37 crore LED bulbs distributed under UJALA scheme and more than one crore smart LED street lights reduced around 43 Million tonnes of carbon emission annually.
The Minister also lauded the provision of setting up a National Hydrogen Energy Mission under the Union Budget this year. He informed that the Mission will help generate hydrogen from green power sources.