Budget aims to achieve 'sustainable energy for all' goal: Anil Chaudhry

With India being the fifth largest energy consumer in the world, the country needs to make a concerted effort in promoting energy efficiency by reducing its dependence on fossil fuels and curtailing carbon footprints. 

While access to energy is a basic human right, we need to make it sustainable. Today’s budget gave a clear indication of the government’s focus to achieve ‘sustainable energy for all’, with two of its critical steps; firstly, by providing a boost to rural electrification with a 25 percent increase in the outlay for key power schemes like Integrated Power Development Scheme and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna. This is expected to fast track the rural electrification drive of the Government, which is now planned to be completed by May 1, 2018. Secondly, by strengthening its focus on renewable energy forms with the inflow of another 20 GW in the next fiscal.