India is offering more than $1 billion (roughly Rs. 7,340 crores) in cash to each semiconductor company that sets up manufacturing units in the country as it seeks to build on its smartphone assembly industry and strengthen its electronics supply chain, two officials said. It is time for chip companies to set up in the country. Governments across the world are subsidising the construction of semiconductor plants as chip shortages hobble the auto and electronics industries and highlight the world's dependence on Taiwan for supplies. India also wants to establish reliable suppliers for its electronics and telecom industry to cut dependence on China following border skirmishes last year.

 

The government said the approval for the project will help India achieve targets in its 30-year submarine construction programme.  A 'Make in India' project worth ? 43,000 crore (€5 bn) to build six conventional submarines has been cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council, headed by Defence Minister. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has approved a request for proposal (RFP) for the project to be run under 'strategic partnership mode' - the first such military hardware acquisition project under this model, according to the government. The government said the approval for the project will help India achieve targets in its 30-year submarine construction programme.

Minister lauded C-DAC's contribution under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) enabling manufacturing of systems and components for high performance computing in India, according to a statement. The minister said the role of research organisations like C-DAC is significant for realisation of the vision of self-reliant India. C-DAC on one hand is deeply engaged in core research in high performance computing, artificial intelligence, 5G, blockchain, augmented /virtual reality, cybersecurity, Indian language computing etc., while on the other hand, it has successfully transformed the lab outcome to benefit the grassroots, creating societal impact.

The National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) will establish a technology data bank for ASEAN (Association of Southeastern Asian Nations) region as part of ASEAN-India Innovation Platform. The corporation has been entrusted by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) to manage the platform for a period of four years. The proposed data bank will link existing data banks of available technologies in the ASEAN region. DST has been given the responsibility of bringing whatever technologies are available in India and ASEAN on one platform and make it available for commercialisation for Indian as well as ASEAN entrepreneurs.

With an aim to provide single-window access to energy data for the country, government think tank Niti Aayog on Monday launched India Energy Dashboards (IED) Version 2.0, according to an official statement.  While launching the IED, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar said that it is an endeavour to establish a central energy database of the country. "With the rise of renewables and many other new energy technologies, the interplays between energy supply and demand sectors are now becoming increasingly critical," he said adding that the scenario building exercise is the key as India needs to seize today's opportunities to build a sustainable tomorrow.

Power and Renewable Energy Minister said a committee will be set up having members from all relevant Ministries for implementation of the Roadmap on Energy Efficiency and low carbon technologies. A high-level meeting to review the progress of various energy efficiency programmes and the preparedness for Climate Change Actions in the country was held. The purpose of this high-level meeting was to discuss activities in the field of energy efficiency across all sectors of the economy with the objective of reducing CO2 emissions. The Minister said a concerted push for renewables is already under way and a detailed action plan will be developed to identify potential areas.

Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy said purchase of green hydrogen will be made mandatory for certain sectors similar to renewable purchase obligation.

Under RPO (Renewable Purchase Obligation), bulk purchasers like discoms, open access consumers and captive users are required to buy a certain proportion of renewable energy out of their total consumption of electricity. They can also buy RE certificates from renewable energy producers to meet the RPO norms. Green hydrogen is produced using renewable energy and electrolysis to split water and is distinct from grey hydrogen, which is produced from methane and releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and blue hydrogen, which captures those emissions and prevent them causing climate change.

 Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE), organization that works on creating awareness about energy efficiency as a resource, has released the Green Vehicle Rating (GVR), country’s only vehicle rating system based on environmental performance. An information tool, GVR aims to reshape consumer knowledge on vehicles and help buyers calculate its impact on a community's health and environment. With the launch of the industry first tool, AEEE has set out to move the ever growing 2 and 3 wheeler rider base towards greener options in the country. GVR also intends to help buyers identify high performing vehicles, make informed decisions with a web-based rating system for vehicles followed by working towards increasing the demand for greener variants.

India along with Govt. of United Kingdom launched new workstream to promote industrial energy efficiency under the Clean Energy Ministerial’s (CEM) – Industrial Deep Decarbonization Initiative (IDDI) co-ordinated by UNIDO, at the 12th Chief Energy Ministerial (CEM). The 12th CEM is ongoing from May 31st and will continue till 6th June 2021. The IDDI initiative has been supported by Germany and Canada, with more countries expected to join soon. The objective is to infuse green technologies and stimulate demand for low-carbon industrial material.

Electronics Ministry (MEITY) released draft policy paper on Circular Economy in Electronics and Electrical Sector.