Gujarat tops NITI Aayog's State Energy and Climate Index

Gujarat has topped NITI Aayog's State Energy and Climate Index (SECI) with a score of 50.1 points in the larger states category.

Kerala and Punjab are ranked second and third respectively. While Goa has topped the category of small states, followed by Tripura and Manipur.

According to NITI Aayog, the State Energy and Climate Index is the first index that aimsto track the efforts made by states and UTs in the climate and energy sector. It is hopedthat an in-depth analysis of individual states will help in enhancing the service deliveryon various parameters of energy. These parameters have been devised keeping in mindIndia's goals for climate change and clean energy transition.

State Energy and Climate Index covers affordability, accessibility, efficiency, DISCOM's performance and climate friendliness of all forms of energy. This index is envisaged tobe at par with the international indices covering the entire energy value-chain.

Since DISCOMS are the important link in the entire energy value chain, their performancehas been assigned with a higher weightage (40 per cent) in the overall index. The aspects of financial viability and performance of DISCOMS have been taken into consideration to encourage competition among states. Other parameters such as 'access, affordability and reliability of energy', 'clean energy initiatives', 'energy efficiency', 'environmental sustainability' and 'new initiatives' have been assigned weights of 15 per cent, 15 per cent, 6 per cent, 12 per cent and 12 per cent respectively.

NITI Aayog said Index will track the performance of the states in the energyand climate sector. The findings will help the states to take timely remedial measures forbetter management, thereby, meeting expectations of the citizens. The overall objectiveof the index is to develop healthy competition among the states to perform better andprovide quality energy services to users in their states.

The scores and ranks are presented as per larger states, smaller states, and UTs.

The final score reveals that among larger states, Gujarat, Kerala, Punjab,Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Maharashtra fall under the category of Front-runners. The statessuch as Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar are achievers and the remaining states are aspirants.

The highest score of 50.1 was achieved by Gujarat, followed by Kerala and Punjab with a score of 49.1 and 48.6 respectively.

The lowest score of 31.7 was achieved by Chhattisgarh and it can be observed from the parameters score that the state has not performed well in terms of clean energy initiatives, energy efficiency, environmental sustainability, and new initiatives.

The performance of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Orissa has greater scope for improvement in terms of clean energy initiatives, energy efficiency, environmental sustainability, and new initiatives.

Though Gujarat is the best-performing state, its performance in terms of EnvironmentalSustainability and New initiatives needs improvement. The SECI score for states such asTamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh was observed withinthe range of 40-45, said the NITI Aayog report.

The final SECI score depicts that among the smaller states, Goa and Tripura are front-runners,Manipur is achiever and the remaining smaller states fall in the category of aspirants. Thehighest score of 51.4 was achieved by Goa and the lowest score of 27 by ArunachalPradesh. Tripura with a score of 58.7 is the best performer all over India in terms of thenew initiative parameter.

All the small states are performing average in the category of environmental sustainability and access, affordability and reliability with scores in the range of 55-40 and 60-30 respectively.

In the third category of UTs, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Chandigarh, Delhi and Puducherry are performing better and they are in the category of front-runners with a score of 53.2, 55.7, 55.6, and 48.5 respectively. Jammu and Kashmir, Andaman and Nicobars and Lakshadweep fall in the category of aspirants with scores 29.3, 29.4, and 26.9 respectively.

( With inputs from ANI )