India Shows the Way to the World in Fight Against Climate Change

New Delhi: Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, Shri Piyush Goyal presided over the launch of World’s largest efficient lighting programme, UJALA – UK (UK Joins Affordable LEDs for All) by Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. (EESL) in London, United Kingdom today. Talking about the philosophy of the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi about preventing wastage of all resources especially electricity, Shri Goyal said that, “a sustainable lifestyle is important for the future of the planet and if the planet has to be saved for the future generations, it is I, you and we all who have to collectively make a difference and act today itself. We are running out of time.”
Informing the august gathering about the scale at which the EESL LED programme is expanding, the Minister said that, “the EESL LED programme in India has grown 140 times in less than 2 years and I don't think we will find any parallel to that anywhere in the world. EESL would achieve the turnover target of $1.5 million by 2019, concomitant with the Government of India’s target under the UDAY scheme and 100% rural household electrification”. Shri Goyal further stated that even in the Developed countries like the US and Europe, there is a great potential for incorporating energy efficiency measures like the EESL LED programme, especially looking at the climate change scenario in the present context. India's share in the Global LED market has increased from a mere 0.1% a few years back to around 16% today, it was informed.
Talking about the potential energy savings by implementing the LED programme in India, Shri Goyal said that lighting alone consists of 15% of the total energy needs of the population across the country, especially the lower middle class families, which is about 180 billion units of energy. As India moves towards becoming a 100% LED Nation, the potential savings would be around 112 billion units, in other terms reducing carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 79 million tonnes every year. Consequently, India’s peak load will reduce by about 20 GW and our consumers will save around $6.5 billion worth in electricity bills annually, the Minister added.
Describing the strategy for scaling up the LED penetration in UK, Shri Goyal said that India was able to significantly reduce the purchase price of the LED by increasing efficiency and not giving subsidies to the consumers. The scheme has sustained itself on the savings achieved by increasing energy efficiency in the whole lifecycle of the LED bulbs. “Government of India has fine tuned the process, brought down the costs of manufacturing and sold nearly 230 million LED bulbs whereas the private sector, in the same period, sold about 330 million LED bulbs, effectively replacing about 560 million incandescent bulbs in the last 2 years. The consumers are the direct beneficiaries by saving on electricity bills and reducing the carbon footprint on the environment for the future generations, he added.
The Minister requested the Government of UK to get EESL in touch with all the stakeholders like local distribution companies, e-commerce companies, hotels, industry, large businesses, supermarket chains etc. and replicate India's model in the UK so as to achieve a similar kind of scale up that the programme has witnessed in India as a zero investment model. He stressed that a massive deployment of this LED programme throughout the world will go a long way in fighting climate change and make the world a better place to live in for the future generations. The Minister urged all the dignitaries present to become ambassadors of this Energy Efficiency programme for a better tomorrow. “I hope that we all will come together in a mission mode to adopt Energy Efficiency as a way of life in the future”, Shri Goyal added.
The Minister also suggested to the Government of the UK a target of replacing at least 100 million incandescent bulbs with LEDs by March 2019 and reduce the individual household consumption of energy by at least half. Further, it was informed that as a beginning to UJALA-UK operations, EESL has started the retrofitting of the facade and other lights of the High Commission of India in UK and the India House which would lead to considerable energy savings. EESL’s engagement with the UK will cover a broad spectrum including marketing of the world class energy efficiency products, services, investments and raising capital, scouting for new energy efficiency technologies and partnering with British companies to establish presence in third world country markets.
During the event, MoUs were signed between Indian High Commission and EESL and between the British Electrotechnical and Allied Manufacturers Association (BEAMA) and the Indian Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association (IEEMA) to strengthen bilateral industry cooperation and exchanges between India and the UK.
Dignitaries present during the event were Shri Y.K. Sinha, the High Commissioner of India to the UK, Shri Dinesh Patnaik, Deputy High Commissioner of India in UK, Pankaj Patel, President, FICCI along with other dignitaries from Governments of India and UK, FICCI and other stakeholders from the industry.