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Sustainability Outlook Headlines
Taking resource saving to the next level with ‘Net Zero’ buildingsConserve water, recycle, save electricity, improve indoor air quality, reuse construction materials — as buildings grow and cities expand, these concepts are increasingly becoming a part of the routine. Just over a decade-and-a-half back, ‘green buildings’ were a novel feature in urban development; today, these conservation measures are widespread. They are a part of the National Building Code and authorities offer incentives for adopting these resource-efficient measures. But is this enough? Not really. What... Read more.. |
SoftBank pumps in $250 million in Ola ElectricOla's electric vehicle arm, Ola Electric Mobility has secured a funding of over ₹1,725 crore (about $250 million) from SoftBank, according to regulatory documents. With this latest infusion, Ola Electric Mobility (OEM) has joined the list of unicorns in India that includes names like Flipkart, Zomato, Paytm as well as its parent, Ola. As per regulatory documents filed with the Registrar of Companies, OEM issued "4,326 fully and compulsorily convertible series B preference shares of face value of ₹10 each... Read more.. |
Environment Ministry to Use Mahindra Electric Cars for Official Use to Combat Air PollutionThe Environment Ministry has acquired electric cars for official use, a move aimed at reducing air pollution. According to ministry sources, five electric cars have been acquired on a trial basis out of which three have been allotted to ministry officials. Tweeting a picture of the electric car, the ministry said, "@moefcc acquires Electric Cars for official duty thereby utilising in-house charging facilities and setting an example in pollution free commutes." Sources said the three vehicles have been... Read more.. |
Biodiversity parks along Ganga to battle pollution by solar energy-driven techniqueCleaning Ganga through phytoremediation is what the Yogi government has on its mind. It is a lowcost, solar energy-driven technique that uses plants to remove pollutants from water. To clean a river, the water must be channelled through boulders to filter it and then held up in retention ponds. These ponds have certain naturally growing plant species that help increase the level of dissolved oxygen in water. The government, following directives from National Green Tribunal, has preliminarily identified sites in at least 22 of the 27 districts through which the... Read more.. |
State seeks inclusion of Water Metro in Central schemeThe State government has sought inclusion of water transport projects, including the ₹750-crore Water Metro, in the Centre’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME-2) scheme, so that electric boats can get incentives similar to those available for electric buses, three and four-wheelers used for commercial purposes. This comes in the wake of deliberations at Evolve, Kerala’s first electric-vehicle summit, that concluded here on Sunday. Ferries were hitherto out of the purview... Read more.. |
Government wants petrol stations to charge your electric vehiclesThe government is looking to put in place a framework for a mega battery manufacturing and charging infrastructure — including the use of petrol pumps for electric charging points — to push electric vehicles (EVs) in the country. Currently, there are around 60,000 petrol stations operated by state-run firms and there are plans to add nearly the same number. Highlights Centre is looking to put in place a framework for a mega battery manufacturing and charging infrastructure — including the use of petrol pumps... Read more.. |
India is now producing the world’s cheapest solar powerA short time ago, solar power was considered a marginal power source. But it is now one of the major drivers behind the transition to greener, more sustainable energy. Around the globe, prices are falling and India is now producing the world’s cheapest solar power, according to an International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) survey. The costs of building large-scale solar installations in India fell by 27% in 2018, year-on-year, thanks to a combination of low-priced panel imports from China, abundant land... Read more.. |
World Bank, Centre and Kerala sign $250-m loan pactThe Government of India, Government of Kerala and World Bank on Friday signed a loan agreement of $250 million (Rs 1,725 crore) for the First Resilient Kerala Programme to enhance the state’s resilience against the impact of natural disasters and climate change. The programme, which represents the first ‘State Partnership’ of the World Bank in India, is the first of two Development Policy Operations aiming to mainstream disaster and climate resilience into critical infrastructure and services. The loan aims... Read more.. |
Kerala targets one million EVs by 2022Kerala’s electric vehicle (EV) policy envisages an ambitious target of introducing one million EVs in the State by 2022, the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said. The State has planned a pilot fleet of 3,000 buses, 100 ferries, two lakh two-wheelers, 50,000 three-wheelers and 1,000 goods carriers. Apart from the investment, it also called for the adoption of technology best suited for the State, the Chief Minister said after inaugurating ‘Evolve: Kerala mobility conference and expo’. The State-run KAL plans... Read more.. |
Include battery swapping for incentive under FAME-II scheme: FICCIIndustry chamber FICCI Friday called for inclusion of battery swapping model of charging for incentives under FAME-II scheme to help acceleration of electric mobility in India. The Rs 10,000-crore Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME - II) envisages incentives mainly to 10 lakh registered electric two-wheelers, 5 lakh erickshaws and 7,090 e-buses. The FAME-II policy announced in March 2019 was much needed but there are some elements in the policy which could be altered for better... Read more.. |
India To Order Taxi Aggregators Like Uber, Ola To Go Electric By 2026India plans to order taxi aggregators like Uber and Ola to convert 40% of their fleet of cars to electric by April 2026, according to a source and records of government meetings to discuss new rules for clean mobility. Uber and Ola, both backed by Softbank Group, would need to start converting their fleet as early as next year to achieve 2.5% electrification by 2021, 5% by 2022, 10% by 2023 before hiking it to 40%, according to the person and the records that have been reviewed by Reuters. Some taxi players,... Read more.. |
More room for autos in Delhi, but only electric onesThe Supreme Court appointed environment watchdog, EPCA, and the Centre are likely to back allowing more autorickshaws on Delhi roads when the apex court takes up the case. Both are likely to submit to the court that only electric autorickshaws should be allowed over and above the cap that has been fixed for conventional three-wheelers, sources said. Both the Centre and the Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority have held several rounds of talks on this issue since this March when the SC-... Read more.. |
India's Flipkart to replace 40 per cent of its delivery vans with EVsWalmart Inc’s Indian unit Flipkart said late Thursday it plans to replace nearly 40 per cent of its current fleet of delivery vans with electric vehicles (EVs) by March 2020, as part of its efforts to cut down on its carbon footprint. The Bengaluru-based e-commerce company said it will start with deploying 160 vans by 2019-end. Some of these EVs are already plying in the country’s capital of New Delhi. Flipkart has amped up its focus on sustainability since its USD 16 billion acquisition by Walmart last year... Read more.. |
India considers mass rollout of smart meters to revive utilitiesIndia is considering a plan to install smart meters in every home and business as part of its ongoing effort to turn around the country’s ailing power sector, according to officials with knowledge of the situation. The plan under consideration would require 300 million smart meters over three years, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information isn’t public. The federal power ministry has begun discussions with manufacturers on supplying the meters, which improve efficiency by monitoring... Read more.. |
EU, India step up cooperation in solar energyThe European Union delegation in India and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy have jointly launched standard operation procedures and monitoring tool for Indian solar parks. Solar parks are key for India to achieve its target of 100 GW from solar energy by 2022, contributing to this target with 40 GW. The EU has been collaborating closely with India in deployment of climate friendly energy sources including solar energy. Developed as part of the EU-India cooperation in Clean Energy and Climate... Read more.. |
Xi urges BRICS to strengthen strategic partnership, improve global governanceChinese President Xi Jinping on Friday called on BRICS countries to enhance their strategic partnership and promote the improvement of global governance. Xi made the remarks at a meeting with other BRICS leaders on the sidelines of a summit of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies in the Japanese city of Osaka. Xi said that the international situation is now in a complicated and severe period, with the world economy maintaining growth on the whole but uncertainty and instability increasing significantly. He... Read more.. |
Indian Government To Incentivize Faster Adoption Of Electric VehicleThe Indian government has formally proposed a number of measures to incentivize the adoption of electric vehicles. The government has proposed an amendment to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules so as to allow exemption of registration fees for electric vehicles. has also proposed exemption of road tax for electric vehicles may also soon consider lowering the tax on electric vehicles. Apart from these incentives, the government already offers financial subsidy on the purchase of electric vehicles under the... Read more.. |
World Bank approves $147 mn loan to JharkhandThe World Bank on Tuesday approved a $147 million loan agreement to provide basic urban services to the people of Jharkhand and help improve the management capacity of the urban local bodies (ULBs) in the state. “The Jharkhand Municipal Reform Programme will focus on improving the municipal sector’s capacity to provide basic urban services. It will invest in urban services such as water supply, sewerage, drainage, and urban roads; and strengthen the capacity of the Jharkhand Urban Infrastructure Development... Read more.. |
India plans to set up 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030India would have installed 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022, says secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. India plans to set up 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity by 2030. This announcement was made by Anand Kumar, secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy on Tuesday at the 17th meeting of the International Renewables Energy Agency (IRENA) council in Abu Dhabi. The significant announcement comes in the backdrop of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government running... Read more.. |
Cooling Hubs could offer hope to Indian communitiesExperts from the University of Birmingham are to work with groups in India to explore how sustainable cooling can help Indian farming communities. Launching the project on World Refrigeration Day (June 26) with a workshop in New Delhi, sustainable cooling experts will look at ways to reduce food waste, increase farmers’ income and meet rural communities’ cooling needs in an affordable and sustainable way. It intends to begin by developing ways of integrating food cold chains with other cold-dependent services... Read more.. |
Vedanta to bid aggressively for government projectsThe Vedanta Group plans to invest heavily in solar energy to generate 1,000 MW in a couple of years, and bid aggressively for government projects as the metals and mining multinational seeks to increase generation and consumption of emission-free power, Chairman Anil Agarwal said. Agarwal, who was in Delhi for a pre-budget meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top officials, said he was inspired by the government’s aggressive push for increasing renewable energy generation in the country which will... Read more.. |
MP Govt to Bring E-vehicle Policy Soon in Bid to Bring Down Pollution LevelThe Madhya Pradesh government will soon come up with e-vehicle policy in a bid to increase facilities for electric vehicles and bring down pollution levels, Urban Administration Minister Jaivardhan Singh said on Tuesday. The government would also emphasise on introducing electric buses and vehicles in public transport in future. The minister said electric vehicles would be initially operated in big cities like Indore and Bhopal. The upcoming policy would also regulate e-rickshaws and other vehicles besides... Read more.. |
Climate change gaining ground as poll issueIn the recent General Election in Denmark, the Social Democrats won amid a wave of two very different issues — climate change and immigration. Well, are the issues of environment and climate so serious, even politically, in today’s world? Apparently, yes. Polls show that 46 per cent of the Danish voters treated climate change as their top concern in 2019, while this percentage was only 27 in 2017. Younger people, in particular, are deeply concerned about the rising seas and global warming. And this has... Read more.. |
India’s NTPC Limited Offers Solar Power Project Management Services To ISA MembersThe International Solar Alliance has asked companies in member countries to submit proposals to offer solar power project management solutions. The global body issued this invitation after it received a proposal for the same from India’s largest power generation company. NTPC Limited submitted a proposal to the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to offer services that would help member countries establish solar power projects, including rooftop solar power projects. The ISA proposes to levy a flat 1% charge... Read more.. |
EV conversion plan: NITI seeks plan from 2 and 3 wheeler makersGovernment think-tank Niti Aayog has asked conventional two- and three-wheeler makers to suggest within two weeks concrete steps towards transition to electric mobility keeping in mind 2025 deadline, according to sources. At a meeting of the manufacturers and start-up electric vehicle (EV) makers called by Niti Aayog on Friday, the industry was cautioned that if they do not take steps to address pollution issues, courts will step in. The meeting was attended by top officials of major two-wheeler manufacturers... Read more.. |
