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The government has installed renewable energy projects of 152.90 gigawatt (GW) capacity as of February 28 this year, RK Singh, Union minister for power and new and renewable energy, told the Rajya Sabha.
This includes 50.78 GW from solar, 40.13 GW from wind, 10.63 GW from bio-power, 4.84 GW from small hydropower and 46.52 GW from large hydropower, Singh added.
Sulpur dioxide
Seven power companies have installed flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) technology in 20 power plant units to control emissions of sulphur dioxide from thermal power plants, Singh said.
Sixteen of these units have installed wet FGD technology while the remaining four have installed dry sorbent injection technology. All 20 units installed FGD prior to 2021-22, he added.
Electric cooking
The power ministry as well as public sector units (PSU) under it have carried out no assessment on the penetration of electricity-based cooking, Singh said.
However, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), a statutory body under the administrative control of the ministry, has developed the performance benchmarks for induction hobs.
BEE has also carried out a market assessment study to understand the market acceptability of the product category wherein the market size for induction hobs was estimated to be around four million units in 2018-19, Singh said.
Rooftop solar
The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is implementing phase II of the Grid Connected Rooftop Solar (RTS) Programme. It is providing subsidy for RTS installation in the residential sector under the programme, Singh said.
The government has installed 1,252 megawatt (MW) RTS capacity in the residential sector as of March 8 this year. Central financial assistance amounting to Rs 1,132.74 crore has been disbursed to various electricity distribution companies under the programme, Singh said.
Waste-to-Energy
The government has installed 11 waste-to-energy plants of a total capacity of 132.1 MW as of February 28, for generating power from municipal solid waste in India, Singh said.
MNRE conducted a study for the assessment of biomass power and bagasse cogeneration potential. Some 228 million tonnes of surplus biomass and 82 million tonnes of bagasse are generated annually in India, according to the study report, Singh added.
Solar parks
The government has sanctioned 56 solar parks of a cumulative 38,266 MW capacity in 15 Indian states as on February 28, under the scheme for development of solar parks and ultra mega solar power projects.
Two solar parks of 500 MW capacity each were sanctioned earlier, both in the Ramanthapuramu district of Tamil Nadu. However, they were subsequently cancelled due to slow progress, Singh said.
Oxygen plants
The government has sanctioned 1,561 Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen generation plants, Bharati Pravin Pawar, minister of state in the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare told the Rajya Sabha.
These include 1,225 PSA plants that have been installed and commissioned under the PM CARES Fund in every district of India. Additionally, 336 PSA plants were to be set up by PSUs under various Union ministries including petroleum and natural gas, power, coal, railways, etc.
Some 1,535 out of 1,561 PSA plants have been commissioned till now.
Kisan drones
The Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) used drones for the first time in 2020-21 for desert locust control, Narendra Singh Tomar, Union minister for agriculture and farmers welfare, told the Lok Sabha.
The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation notified the liberalised Drone Rules, 2021, to promote the use of drone technology in India. The DA&FW released the standard operating procedures for drone use in agriculture for pesticide and nutrient application, which provide concise instructions for effective and safe operations of agricultural drones.
The government has also announced in the recent budget that the use of kisan drones will be promoted for crop assessment, digitisation of land records and spraying of insecticides and nutrients, Tomar said.
Millets as superfood
The production of millets in India has increased to 18.02 million tonnes in 2020-21, from 17.26 million tonnes during 2019-20. The NFSM-Nutri Cereals scheme is being implemented in 212 districts of 14 states under the National Food Security Mission (NFMS) programme, Tomar said.