Here’s What Top Industry Participants Think About Government’s Go Green Plan

Finance Minister Nirmala Seetharaman yesterday presented the Union Budget 2023-24 in the parliament. 'Green Growth' being one of the seven priorities of this budget called ‘Saptrishis’ has been full of allocations and promises.

The minister, in her budget speech, said, “We are implementing many programmes for green fuel, green energy, green farming, green mobility, green buildings, and green equipment, and policies for efficient use of energy across various economic sectors. These green growth efforts help in reducing carbon intensity of the economy and provides for large-scale green job opportunities.”

Keeping in mind the dire need of increasing the production, the budget allocated an amount of INR 35,000 crore for priority capital investments towards energy transition and net zero objectives, and energy security by Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.

Gautam Mohanka, Managing Director, Gautam Solar stated this as a positive decision commenting, “The INR 35,000 crores capital investment for achieving energy transition and net zero objective and energy security by Ministry of Petroleum and natural gas will help the country’s goal of decreasing the share of fossil fuels and increase the share of renewable energy.”

Accroding to Seetharaman, Government will support the Battery Energy Storage Systems of capacity of 4,000 MWH through Viability Gap Funding scheme. Also, a detailed framework for Pumped Storage Projects will be formulated.

“Promotion of Battery energy storage systems by Viability Gap Funding of capacity 4000 MWh and extending exemption on machinery for production of Li-Ion battery manufacturing will further increase India’s domestic production capacity," added Mohanka.

Seethtaraman added that the budget will have a provision of customs duty exemption for import of capital goods and machinery required for manufacture of lithium-ion cells for batteries used in electric vehicles.”

Chief Growth Officer of TelioEV, Lalit Singh, praised this decision of government saying, “Excited to see the budget's focus on green growth and the pro-EV initiatives, particularly the reduction of customs duties on lithium batteries and extension of subsidies for EV batteries.”  He added that these actions will drive demand for electric vehicles and align with the budget's goal of promoting eco-conscious lifestyles.

In direction of helping new companies, engaged in the manufacturing activities, government used to give some tax benefits to them. The scheme was valid till 1st April, 2023. This budget extended benefits to manufacturing companies for one more year. Adddionaly, Reacting to this, Dr Amitabh Saran of Altigreen Propulsions Labs said, “We welcome Budget 2023-24 and the government's dedication to promoting environmental sustainability. The announcement of the extension of subsidies on Electric Vehicle batteries for 1 more year coupled with the decision to continue the concessional duty on lithium-ion cells for batteries for another year is helpful; however, we look to the government to extend these for 3 years to provide a stable policy environment for the industry."

Understanding that Micro Small and Medium Enterprise are the growth engine of the economy, Seetharaman said, I am happy to announce that the revamping of Credit Gurantee scheme for MSMEs will take effect from 1st April 2023 through infusion of INR 9,000 crore in the corpus. This will enable additional collateral-free guaranteed credit of 2 lakh crore. Further, the cost of the credit will be reduced by about 1 per cent.”

Mr. Rahul Jain, Director, Crayon Motors on this budget said, “The extension of subsidies for another year, as well as lower duties on lithium batteries, are encouraging developments for India's transition to green mobility. The infusion of 9000 crores into the Credit Guarantee Scheme, combined with lower credit costs, is a much-needed boost for the MSME sector. References to ease of compliance, rationalization, and digitisation will improve the ease of doing business even further. Overall, the budget has prioritized green initiatives, and we are excited to contribute to making the world a greener and cleaner place for everyone."

Anjali Bansal, Founder, Avaana Capital lauded the governmed on proposing a budget foussed on the green growth. She said, “The Union Budget rightly builds incentives to support low carbon development pathways with the focus on Green Growth among the Saptarishi priorities. We welcome the increased outlay towards energy transition, and particularly for Green Hydrogen and waste-to-energy, which will boost energy independence.”

She added that the PRANAM scheme and bio-inputs centres shall incentivize adoption of sustainable and regenerative agriculture practices. The Green Credit programme will channel much needed capital to support the transition to a sustainable economy. Concessional duties on Li-ion batteries will provide further boost to the EV sector and help decarbonize the transport and logistics sectors. The measures announced in Budget 2023 will further strengthen India’s position as a global climate leader, and catalyse sustainable, inclusive development.”