MPs pitch for more focus on renewable sources of energy

Opposition lawmakers today asked the government to put adequate focus on renewable sources of energy to cut dependency on fossil fuel, saying time has come to take the matter seriously.

During a discussion on the India Institute of Petroleum and Energy Bill, 2017 in the Lok Sabha, a number of members from the Opposition parties said a majority of leading economies globally are moving towards biol-fuels and renewable sources of energy and India must take similar initiative.

The bill provides for setting up of an Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE) at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh at a cost of over Rs 600 crore.
 

Participating in the discussion, Trinamool Congress member Saugata Roy complimented the government for the initiative and said time has come for India to deliberate seriously on alternative sources of energy.

Roy also slammed the government for deciding to effect a hike of Rs 4 per LPG cylinder every month and demanded withdrawal of the decision immediately.

Tathagata Satpathy of Biju Janata Dal said there was a need for serious deliberations on "energy synergy" in India to ensure steady growth of the country's economy in the long- term.

"There is a need to challenge our dependency on the fossil fuel," he said.

P K Biju of CPI(M) said the government must usher in new technology to promote clean energy in the country.

The India Institute of Petroleum and Energy, whose foundation stone has already been laid, will have a course in petroleum and energy studies. The Centre had promised a petroleum university as part of the package to Andhra Pradesh after Telangana was split from it.

Andhra Pradesh has already allocated 200 acres of land for setting up of the IIPE at Sabbavaram Mandal in Visakhapatnam district.

A temporary campus of IIPE has been set up from academic session 2016-17 at the Andhra University campus with two undergraduate programmes in petroleum engineering and chemical engineering (with capacity of 50 students each).