How Prepared Are India’s State Budgets For Climate Action – EQ Mag Pro
Indian states have started integrating climate-related action in their annual budgets as the country looks to transition to a low-carbon economy.
The Union Budget 2022-23 speech by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in February acknowledged the need for climate action and highlighted it as one of the pillars for future development. It, however, was lacking in any significant announcements on policy or spends.
Sitharaman’s state-level counterparts have in their budget speeches started making monetary allocations towards energy transition and ecological protection.
Not all details are clear yet. A handful of state budgets have announced plans to increase renewable capacity but did not specify any allocation. Others announced proposals to implement schemes that may take more than a year to be implemented.
Andhra Pradesh: Increased Allocation, But Lacking In Detail
Andhra Pradesh’s budget did not have any announcements towards climate-related activities or energy transition. Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath spoke about developing climate-resilient cities and expanding green spaces in urban areas but did not make any specific scheme allocations.
An allocation of Rs 685 crore in FY23 has been proposed for the Environment, Forest, Science and Technology Department—a 60% increase from the revised estimates of FY22.
Bihar: Funds For Climate Department Reduced, Solar Plans Announced
Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Tarkishore Prasad highlighted how the state had lost green cover in the annual forest survey done by the central government. He, however, didn’t announce any specific measures that the state would undertake to fix that.
Instead, the state cut FY23 allocation for the Environment, Forests and Climate Change by 22.7% to Rs 662.85 crore. Of this, over 90% is revenue expenditure towards forestry and wildlife.
A further Rs 1,516.52 crore have been allocated as capital for power projects, and another Rs 96.5 crore as loans. This will include funds for a 200-megawatt grid-connected ground-mounted solar power plant for which work is already underway. It will also fund 18.8 MW of grid-connected solar rooftop capacity that will be installed in government buildings like health centres and higher education institute.
Chhattisgarh: Push For Solar Pumps
The budget, presented by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, focused mostly on expanding the use of solar water pumps among the state’s farming community.
The state will make a provision of Rs 416.9 crore for installing additional 15,000 solar irrigation pumps of 3-5 horsepower capacity under Saur Sujala Scheme. Over 1 lakh farmers have received solar pumps in the state so far.
The state will also provide Rs 100 crore for setting up 10,000 solar pumps under the Pradhan Mantri Kusum Yojana.
Gujarat: Big Renewable Ambitions
Finance Minister Kanubhai Desai announced plans for setting up large-scale renewable energy projects and targeted an increase in the state’s already high solar rooftop capacity.
Rs 60 crore have been set aside for a group captive solar and wind energy park of 150 MW capacity. The project would cost Rs 600 crore, the finance minister said, without elaborating where the rest of the funds will come from. It will be used to power municipal street lighting, water and sewage works.
A provision of Rs 825 crore for setting up solar rooftops in 3 lakh houses. The state has over 1.6 gigawatt capacity of rooftop solar already installed in more than 3 lakh buildings. Another Rs 37 crore allocated to create 10 MW capacity of solar power on rooftops of government buildings…Read More…
Source: Bloomberg
