Gujarat tops Niti Aayog’s energy and climate index

Gujarat has topped the Niti Aayog’s State Energy and Climate Index (SECI) -Round 1 among larger states. It is aimed at ranking states and Union Territories (UTs) on six parameters, including discoms’ performance, clean energy initiatives and environmental sustainability.

The states have been categorised based on size and geographical differences as larger states, smaller states, and UTs. Gujarat, Kerala, and Punjab have been ranked as the top three performers in the category of larger states. Goa emerged as the top-performing state in the smaller-states category followed by Tripura, and Manipur. Among UTs, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Daman & Diu/Dadra & Nagar Haveli are the top performers. Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand were placed at the bottom among the larger states.

SECI Round-1 ranks states and UTs on six parameters — discoms’ performance; access affordability and reliability of energy; clean energy initiatives; energy efficiency; environmental sustainability; and new initiatives. The index can be used by the states and UTs to benchmark their performance against their peers, analyse the potential challenges to develop better policy mechanisms, and efficiently manage their energy resources.

Punjab was the best performer in discom performance parameter among larger states, while Kerala emerged as the top performer in access, affordability and reliability category among larger states. Likewise, Haryana was the best performer when it comes to clean energy initiatives among larger states, while Tamil Nadu emerged as the top performer in the energy efficiency category.

The index is based on 2019-20 data. Releasing the report, NITI Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar said the index that compares states and UTs across many indicators will encourage them towards energy transition, and all the necessary steps must be taken to achieve this.

With PTI inputs