28 August 2018: UPSC Exam PIB Summary & Analysis

Read the daily PIB update and stay up-to-date on current affairs for the UPSC exam

India’s Energy Efficiency Program

• The Government of India and the World Bank signed a $220 million Loan Agreement and an $80 million Guarantee Agreement for the India Energy Efficiency Scale-Up Program. 
• The Program, to be implemented by the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), will help scale-up the deployment of energy saving measures in residential and public sectors, strengthen EESL’s institutional capacity, and enhance its access to commercial financing.
• The investments under the Program are expected to avoid lifetime greenhouse gas emissions of 170 million tons of CO₂, and contribute to avoiding an estimated 10 GW of additional generation capacity.This would be over 50 percent of the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency target of 19.6 GW indicated in India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Accord.
• The Key Components of the Operation include:

1. Creating sustainable markets for LED lights and energy efficient ceiling fans;
2. Facilitating well-structured and scalable investments in public street lighting;
3. Developing sustainable business models for emerging market segments such as super-efficient air conditioning and agricultural water pumping systems; and
4. Strengthening the institutional capacity of EESL.

Lakhwar Multipurpose Project

Purpose:

• It will benefit all six states in terms of river flow, drinking water, irrigation and electricity.
• The focus is also on abating pollution in River Yamuna under Clean Ganga Mission, that the 34 projects are being taken up on the river out of which 12 are in Delhi which will ensure that the water going to Haryana and Rajasthan is Nirmal.
• While Lakhwar project will provide adequate water to all six States, the interventions being made under Namami Gange programme will ensure pollution abatement in Yamuna serving the twin purpose. 

Background:

• The Lakhwar project envisages construction of a 204 m high concrete dam across river Yamuna near Lohari village in Dehradun district of Uttarakhand with a live storage capacity of 330.66 MCM.
• This storage will provide irrigation for 33,780 hectares land and availability of 78.83 MCM water for domestic, drinking and industrial use in the six basin states.
• The project will also generate 300 MW of power. 

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