New Delhi: March 02: The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), under the Ministry of Power, marked its 25th Foundation Day at the India Habitat Centre, positioning energy efficiency as a strategic lever for India’s energy security, industrial competitiveness and climate commitments.
Addressing stakeholders, Manohar Lal Khattar, Union Minister for Power and Housing & Urban Affairs, described energy efficiency as a “preventive mechanism” for the power sector, noting that every unit of electricity saved reduces incremental capacity addition and emissions. He highlighted India’s progress in lowering emissions intensity of GDP by 36% from 2005 levels and achieving 52% non-fossil fuel installed capacity ahead of the 2030 target.
The Minister outlined progress across flagship market-based and regulatory interventions, including the Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) mechanism, Renewable Consumption Obligation (RCO), transition to the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) norms, ADEETIE for MSMEs, and the Standards & Labelling (S&L) Programme. He underscored the growing importance of efficient energy management in emerging sectors such as data centres and artificial intelligence as India advances towards its Viksit Bharat @2047 vision.
Pankaj Agarwal, Secretary (Power), termed energy efficiency India’s “First Fuel,” critical to balancing affordability, reliability and sustainability amid rising demand and rapid digitalisation. He pointed to expanded industrial decarbonisation efforts through carbon markets and efficiency hubs, alongside enhanced cooling and transport efficiency frameworks.
