GS3 PYQ (Mains Answer Writing): Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's) | Indian Economy for UPSC CSE PDF Download

“Access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy is the sine qua non to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”. Comment on the progress made in India in this regard ( UPSC MAINS GS3 )

Energy is the golden thread that connects economic growth, social equity, and environmental sustainability. It generates a consistent stream of power to meet basic human needs, maintain and improve social functioning, and advance living standards.

• Validating the same, SDG-7 commits affordable and clean energy for all. Achieving the goal To expand energy access, it is crucial to enhance energy efficiency and to invest in renewable energy. India is projected to be a significant contributor to global energy demand, contributing around one-quarter of the total.
• Thus, energy produced should be as sustainably as possible—that is to say, the power generated by energy use should be much greater than the resulting waste and pollution.  India has a vast renewable energy potential through wind, solar, biomass and small hydro which is concentrated in certain parts of the country.
• But to tap on these endowments, India’s renewable energy sector requires significant financing.

Steps taken by India:

• India intends to achieve 40% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030, as one of the ways to curb global temperature increase.
  • Indian Government has also focussed its attention on rural clean energy sector by supporting distributed generation in the form of community-based, self-sufficient biomass and solar power.
  • National Solar Mission also has an ambitious goal of providing 2 crore solar lighting systems in place of kerosene lamps to rural communities.
  • Installations of solar power systems, particularly on rooftops, all over the country. The target of 40 GW roof top solar by 2022 will result in abatement of about 6 crore tonnes of carbon-dioxide per year
• Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has provided 50 million connections till date and aims to provide 80 million LPG connections by 2020 to BPL households.
• Government is committed to provide 24x7 reliable and quality power supply to the people by 2019. In this direction Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) scheme and SAUBHAGYA scheme have been launched to achieve 100% village electrification and last mile connectivity. Because of all these efforts till now around 78% rural households have been electrified.
• India has increased the share of renewable energy which is around 3 times what it was in 2007. On 30th November, 2017 total installed capacity in India was around 330 GW out of which 18% was from renewable energy sources.
• Ministry of Finance has issued guidelines for mandatory installation of energy efficient appliances in all Central Government buildings which is implemented by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) by 2020.
• Access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy is integral to global development in the twentyfirst century. But, there are challenges that require a pragmatic, multi-faceted approach. Solutions need to be developed at both local and global scale, where Governments and agencies must work together.  Thus, a robust national framework for implementation and funding support for states would be critical to achieve the desired targets. A dedicated nodal agency at the centre to coordinate effectively with the state level agencies could help.

Topics covered - government initatives in energy sector to achieve SDG’S