EUROPE | April 2019| ISSUE 12

Message From SESEI

Greetings from Project SESEI!

Dear Readers,

With immense pleasure we bring to you the twelfth edition of our “SESEI Newsletter Europe” in a new design and format. The focus of our Newsletter remains on bringing important and latest updates and information around policy & regulatory decisions and standards development activities being carried out in India around our project priority sectors.

While WTO with its members have decided to start negotiations to put in place global rules on e-commerce. India has released its Draft national e-commerce policy, which aims to provide a policy framework that shall enable India to benefit from rapid digitisation of the domestic, as well as global economy.

India also released its much awaited National Policy on Electronics 2019 through its Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY). This policy aims to position India as a global hub for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) and create an enabling environment for the industry to compete globally. Another important step towards boosting the local manufacturing under its Make in India program is the prohibition of Importing many electronics and information technology (IT) products without Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) registration. This decision was taken to tighten quality controls for electronic products and as well to curb the rising import of cheap electronic items.

Similar move has also been witnessed in the automotive sector where the Government has notified phased increase in basic customs duty to 15% from April 2020 and 10% on imported lithium-ion cells by April 2021 on parts of electric passenger vehicles which is to be assembled in India to promote domestic manufacturing of EVs. This notification also entails doubling the basic customs duty on completely built units of electric buses and trucks to 50% from April 2020.

The Government of India has also announced the 2nd phase of FAME India phase II scheme which will be implemented from April 2019 with a total outlay of Rs 10,000 Crores (about €1.25 billion) over the period of three years (i.e. from 2019-20 to 2021-22).

The World Bank has committed to provide India funds worth $300 million to aid its energy efficiency programme. The move will help the government set up the requisite infrastructure to push forward its ambition of expanding e-mobility in the country. Niti Aayog - the think tank of Indian government is working on an Information Technology Enabled Services (ITeS) policy to introduce intelligent transport system in the country in the wake of increasing road fatalities. Niti Aayog is also working on many initiatives towards transportation, where the idea is to have seamless, connected, shared, digitalized and zero-emission free mobility. These initiatives are comparable to the intelligent transport and clean mobility programme of the European Commission.

5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain are the main technologies of great emphasis by the Indian government in the ICT sector. Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC) has been asked to finalize standards for IoT/M2M such as oneM2M. India is also aspiring to roll out 5G services at par with the rest of the world. National program on AI will be launched shortly, which intends to establish a National Centre for AI in India. IIT Madras in collaboration with Germany-based Bosch has also opened Data Science (DS) and AI centre.

Both India and Europe are serious about their commitment towards the Paris agreement. A publication on climate action titled 'India - Spearheading Climate Solutions' was released by the Ministry of Environment. This publication is the progress report of the Indian initiatives on climate control and mentions the key actions India has taken under various sectors towards combating and adapting to climate change.

Space technology is an interesting area of growing collaboration between India and EU. Both India and EU are collaborating for past four years while working together in the space sector on Copernicus and Galileo, the EU’s flagship Earth observation and navigation programmes, respectively.

As you will read through the newsletter you will realize that there are many similarities between EU and India in focus and approach on key issues such as energy requirements, clean technologies, intelligent transport and new ICT technologies.

Apart from the interesting news we have brought details of the important events and seminars which will be happening in India and if interested details of the draft standards released by BIS, ARAI and TSDSI.

We are eagerly awaiting to receiving your comments and suggestions on the new Newsletter.

Happy Reading once again.

Dinesh Chand Sharma (Seconded European Standardization Expert in India)
Director – Standards & Public Policy
Mobile: +91 9810079461, Desk: +91 11 3352 1525
Board: +91 11 3352 1500, Fax: +91 11 3352 1501
E-mail: dinesh.chand.sharma@eustandards.in

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Message From SESEI

Greetings from Project SESEI!

We are eagerly awaiting to receiving your comments and suggestions on the new Newsletter.

Happy Reading once again.

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Electrical Equip. /Consumer Electronics

Cabinet approves Measures to promote Hydro Power Sector

2019-04-02 233 0

In order to boost hydro power generation, the government has approved a slew of measures including providing renewable energy status for large hydel projects and new funding provisions. With the government's decision, hydro projects above 25 MW will be considered as renewables and eligible for various incentives like financial assistance and cheaper credit (as per existing practice, only hydropower projects less than 25MW are categorized as Renewable Energy).

TAGS #hydropower #renewableenergy

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Union Cabinet approved new National Electronics Policy (NEP) 2019

2019-04-02 317 0

The Cabinet has approved National Policy on Electronics 2019 in February 2019, which was proposed by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) in 2018. The Policy aims to position India as a global hub for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) by encouraging and driving capabilities in the country for developing core components, including chipsets, and creating an enabling environment for the industry to compete globally. NEP 2019 replaces NEP 2012.

TAGS #NEP #MEITY #ESDM

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Government to approve power tariff policy soon: Power Minister

2019-04-02 269 0

The government will soon approve the power tariff policy which would provide for a penalty for unscheduled power cuts except in the case of technical faults or act of God (natural calamities) by distribution companies from April 1, 2019. In addition, second version of UDAY scheme (UDAY 2.0) meant for revival of debt-laden discoms is being worked out and would be launched with more technological interventions to reduce their Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses.

TAGS #UDAY #powertariff

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Government allocated INR 3,004.90 crore for development of solar power

2019-04-02 295 0

Government has allocated Rs 3,004.90 crore (over €375 million) for development of solar power projects next financial year (2019-20) including both grid-interactive and off-grid and decentralized categories. Under grid-interactive schemes, the budgeted allocation for solar is seen rising 15% to Rs 2,479 crore (about €310 million) while the allocation for solar projects under off-grid and decentralized renewable power is seen declining 35% to Rs 525 crore (over €65 million) for FY 2019-20.

TAGS #solarpower

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Sectorial report on Electrical Equipment including Consumer Electronics sector in India

2019-04-02 262 0

SESEI drafted and released a sectorial report on Indian Electrical Equipment including Consumer Electronics sector covering sector profile, Industry trends & projections, key market players, new government policies and initiatives and standardization work. Report can be downloaded from here>> & Presentation is available here>>

TAGS #electricalequipment #electronics

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Notifications, Guidelines released by Ministry of Power (MoP) and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)

2019-04-02 310 0

Guidelines for Procurement of aggregated Power of 2500 MW under Pilot Scheme-II for three years (covered under Medium Term). Read more
Notification for Quality Control Order on SPV Goods 2017. Read more
Office Memorandum (OM) on “Implementation of approved Models & Manufacturers of Solar PV Modules (Requirements for Compulsory Registration) Order, 2019”. Read more
MNRE along with the MoP announced the amendments to the guidelines for the tariff-based competitive bidding process for procurement & Power from grid-connected solar PV power projects. Read more
Modifications in Scheme for “Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Park Scheme. Read more
Guidelines for enlistment under 'Approved Models and Manufacturers of Solar Photovoltaic Modules (Requirements for Compulsory Registration) Order, 2019. Read more
Quality Control Order on Solar Thermal Systems/ Devices/Components Goods. Read more

TAGS #MNRE #MoP

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