NEW DELHI, Sept 24:
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India today announced that it will undertake an all India performance audit of the new and renewable energy sector in the near future.
“This subject has been chosen keeping in view the tremendous growth potential of renewable energy and its growing importance for our economy and well being of the population at large,” CAG Shashi Kant Sharma said at the inaugural session of the Stakeholders’ Workshop on New and Renewable Energy here.
He said before embarking on this performance audit exercise, of an all India dimension, CAG thought it meaningful and beneficial to organise a workshop of all the stakeholders in this sector to understand and take on board their concerns and also identify the challenges they face in promoting and developing the generation of new and renewable energy in the country.
Mr Sharma said wide participation in this workshop of diverse stakeholders would generate the momentum to work towards our goal of preparing an all India performance audit report on this extremely important sector.
“This would provide to both the executive and legislature, in the Centre and the States, an independent, credible, balanced and timely report on the design and delivery of programmes that are intended to meet the goals of the Government in this sector,” Mr Sharma said.
Mr Sharma said in view of electricity supply shortages, huge quantities of diesel and furnace oil are being used by all sectors – industrial, commercial, institutional or residential.
Shortage of rural lighting is leading to large-scale use of kerosene, which is also required in huge quantities for heating across the Himalayas, including the defence sector, he said.
“This needs to be reduced drastically, as this is leading to enormous cost, in form of budgetary subsidies, increasing the country’s import dependence, in addition to increasing environmental concerns,” he added.
Dependence on huge import of oil and coal, would seriously challenge India’s energy security, Mr Sharma said adding a very large segment of population is still dependent on traditional biomass fuel like firewood, wood chips and cow-dung, for cooking.
He said this is a great health hazard and it cannot be allowed to continue further.
Apart from senior officials of MNRE and CAG, a range of stakeholders, including regulatory agencies, 11 State nodal agencies, PSUs like NTPC, NVVN, NABARD Associations in Solar and Wind Energy, NGOs, IIT Roorkee and subject matter experts from the sector are participating in the one day workshop organised by the office of C&AG of India. (UNI)
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