By Business India Editorial

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has entered into various kinds of agreements with Australia, Finland, Germany and UAE from time to time to promote bilateral cooperation in the field of renewable energy, said RK Singh, Union Minister of Renewable Energy and Power in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. 

According to an official release, since 2022, the ministry has signed the following Memorandums of Understanding (MoU)/Joint Declarations of Intent/Letters of Intent: A Letter of Intent (LoI) on New and Renewable Energy Technology cooperation was signed between the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, and the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction, Government of Australia on 15 February, 2022.

An MoU on cooperation in the field of Renewable Energy was signed between the ministry and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of the Republic of Finland on April 29, 2022. A Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI) on the Indo-German Green Hydrogen Taskforce was signed between the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), the Government of India and the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) of the Federal Republic of Germany on 2 May 2022.

A Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI) regarding Renewable Energy Partnership was signed between the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the Government of India and the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of the Federal Republic of Germany on May 2, 2022. A Memorandum of Understanding to promote discussion and cooperation between the Parties in the Potential Areas of Cooperation in the Spectrum of Green Hydrogen Development and Investments in India and the UAE was signed between the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the Government of India and the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, Government of the United Arab Emirates on 13th January 2023.

Electricity is a concurrent subject and the supply/distribution of electricity to all consumers of rural areas falls primarily under the purview of the respective State Governments and/or State Power Utilities. The government of India has supplemented the efforts of the States through its various schemes including Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGYA) to help them to achieve the objective of providing uninterrupted power supply to all villages and households. Under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), it was targeted to connect every inhabited village with electricity by strengthening the rural distribution system.

All inhabited villages as per the census 2011 stood electrified as of 28 April 2018 across the country and the scheme has been closed on 31 March 2022. Further, universal household electrification was targeted under SAUBHAGYA by providing electricity connections to all un-electrified households in rural areas and all poor households in urban areas in the country.

A total of 2.817 crore households were electrified since the launch of Saubhagya, up to 31 March 2021. Thereafter, 4.34 lakh households were electrified under DDUGJY till 31 March 2022. Accordingly, as of 31 March 2022, a total of 2.86 crore households were electrified. The Scheme has been closed on 31 March 2022.