Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Aug 8 : India is taking the lead in addressing global concerns, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said here today.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leading the global climate movement and the World is ready to be led by India in its fight against climate change- a concern that like the COVID pandemic knows no borders, respects no wealth or any other artificial human division,” said Dr Jitendra Singh, while interacting with a delegation of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) who called on him today.
Dr Jitendra Singh called upon the PHDCCI to commercially exploit India’s first indigenously developed hydrogen fuel cell bus, developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR-NCL) and Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CSIR-CECRI)KPIT in collaboration with KPIT Limited, a Pune-based software multinational. The hydrogen fuel cell bus was launched by Dr Jitendra Singh in August last year.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is implementing the largest Renewable Energy (RE) expansion programme in the world envisaging a 5-fold increase in the overall RE capacity in the country.
“India is committed to achieve 500 GW of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by the year 2030 and reduce the projected emissions by one billion tonnes from now to 2030,” he said.
The Union Minister said that the last nine years have witnessed the Indian crusade against climate change. “We have already achieved our commitment of 40% energy production from renewable sources, way ahead of the 2030 Paris Agreement target,” he said.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, Government of India through Public -Private partnerships is ensuring the funding for clean energy innovations as envisioned under Mission Innovation 2.0. He said that the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) setup has been able to provide a unique opportunity for India to showcase its contribution to clean energy development nationally & internationally and quoted some major CEM initiatives which includes CEM’s Global Lighting Challenge(GLC) campaign, Street Lighting National Programme, Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) program, The One Sun-One world -One Grid Initiative which was first floated by the Prime Minister of India to harness tremendous potential of solar energy.
Dr Jitendra Singh asserted that India, through “Mission Innovation”, is actively engaged in collaborative efforts to catalyze inspiring innovation goals. He said, National Mission initiatives such as Make in India, Digital India, Start-up India, and Green India, Smart Cities have encouraged hubs of clean energy innovation all over the country. Alongside, India has also taken R&D initiative to develop low carbon alternatives to Single Use Plastics in an integrated manner, the Minister added.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, today when India is celebrating the 75thyear of its Independence, the roadmap for the next 25 years for India @100, will be determined by scientific and technological innovations in all walks of life.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, at the initiative of PM Modi, the United Nations observed the International Yoga Day and this year is being celebrated as the International Year of Millets. With Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan AarogyaYojana, the government is taking healthcare protection to a new aspirational level. This is the “world’s largest Government funded healthcare program” targeting more than 50 crore beneficiaries.
Besides, India is today the world’s 5th largest economy and the total length of the National Highways in the country increased by about 59% in the last nine years. As a result of this expansion, India now has the second largest road network, after the US. Under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) the Government achieved the impossible task of increasing the sanitation coverage in just 5-years from 39% in 2014 to 100% by 2019. Under the programme, 10.28 Crore toilets were built in the country and all the districts declared themselves Open Defecation Free (ODF) on 2nd October 2019 as a tribute to the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. It is the world’s largest behaviour change programme.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
