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During the last five years through May 31, 2024, the Central Pollution Control Board has received Rs 364.4 crore in Environment Protection Charges, Kirti Vardhan Singh, Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change told the Lok Sabha July 29, 2024.
Of this, Rs 61.94 crore has been released till March 31, 2024.
India fares better in Sustainable Development Report compared to 2022
India's rank in the global Sustainable Development Report improved from 109 out of 167 countries in 2024 from 121 among 163 countries in 2022, stated Pankaj Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for finance, in the Lok Sabha.
The report is compiled by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, a United States-based non-profit. It offers an annual global ranking of countries based on SDGs
The United Nations' Global Sustainable Development Report does not provide country-specific rankings, the minister added.
As reported by the states, 629 people were killed in elephant attacks in 2023-24, Kirti Vardhan Singh, Union Minister of State for environment, forest and climate change, told the Lok Sabha.
During the same period, 17 died in train accidents and 94 were electrocuted, he noted.
Over half the forest area on the Great Nicobar Island that has been approved for sustainable development has been designated for green development, where no tree felling is planned, Singh said in the Lok Sabha.
The central government, through a letter dated October 27, 2022, has granted in-principle / Stage-1 approval for the diversion of 130.75 square kilometres of forest land for sustainable development on Great Nicobar Island.
This project holds significant strategic and national importance. An estimated 964,000 trees are expected to be impacted. However, 65.99 sq km of the proposed diversion area is designated for green development.
It is anticipated that around 15 per cent of the development area will remain as green and open spaces, reducing the number of affected trees to less than 964,000, said Singh.
In the forest fire season (November 2023 to June 2024), the total number of forest fires detected by the Forest Survey of India was 203,544, according to Singh. This is lower than the previous forest fire season (November 2022 to June 2023) when 212,249 forest fires were recorded.
To address the projected electricity demand by 2031-32, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has conducted generation planning studies. According to the study results, it is anticipated that to meet the country's base load requirement in 2032, a coal and lignite-based installed capacity of 283 GW will be necessary, compared to the current capacity of 217.5 GW. In light of this, the Government of India plans to establish an additional minimum of 80 GW of coal-based capacity by 2031-32, as stated by Shripad Naik, Union Minister of State ifor power, in the Rajya Sabha.
The estimated capital cost for setting up new coal-based thermal capacity, as considered in the National Electricity Plan, is Rs 8.34 crore per megawatt (at 2021-22 price levels). Therefore, the addition of thermal capacity is expected to require a minimum expenditure of Rs 6,67,200 crore by 2031-32, Naik added.
Presently in India the share of natural gas in energy basket is 5.8 per cent, Suresh Gopi, Union Minister of State for petroleum and natural gas in the Rajya Sabha. The government has set a target to raise the share of natural gas in energy mix to 15 per cent in 2030, he added.
Use of biomass based on sugar and starch containing agricultural crops for production of biofuels has transformed farmers from food providers to energy providers, Gopi told the Rajya Sabha.
For the Ethanol Supply Year 2022-23 (Nov'22 to Oct'23), approximately 5.09 billion litres of ethanol has been blended in petrol, resulting in saving of more than Rs 24,300 crore of foreign exchange and higher income to farmers, he added.
Further, sale of Ethanol 100 fuel has been launched in February-March 2024 in select retail outlets, in addition to a very large number of retail outlets selling E-20 fuel, Gopi noted.