State Energy and Climate Index – UPSC Notes

Recently NITI Aayog launched the State Energy and Climate Index (SECI) on 11 April 2022, at an event chaired by Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog. SECI is the first index that aims to track the efforts made by States and Union Territories in the climate and energy sector.

About the State Energy and Climate Index 2022

  • State Energy and Climate Index-Round I is based on 2019-20 data.
  • The Index ranks the performance of the States and UTs on six parameters, namely:
    1. DISCOM’s Performance
    2. Access Affordability and Reliability of Energy
    3. Clean Energy Initiatives
    4. Energy Efficiency
    5. Environmental Sustainability
    6. New Initiatives.
  • The parameters are further divided into 27 indicators.
  • These parameters have been devised keeping in mind India’s goals for climate change and clean energy transition.
  • The States have been categorized based on size and geographical differences as Larger States, Smaller States, and Union Territories.
  • The scores & ranks are presented as per the Larger States, Smaller States, and UTs.
  • Based on the composite SECI score, the States and UTs are categorized into three groups:
    1. Front Runners
    2. Achievers
    3. Aspirants.
  • The Index is envisaged to be at par with the International Indices, covering the entire energy value chain.
  • It provides learnings and the way forward in the form of recommendations for policy-makers with national and state governments.

Objectives of the State Energy and Climate Index

The objectives of the SECI are as follows:

  • To rank the States based on their efforts towards improving energy access, energy efficiency, energy consumption, and safeguarding the environment.
  • To help drive the agenda of the affordable, accessible, efficient, and clean energy transition at the State level.
  • To encourage healthy consumption among the States on different dimensions of energy and climate.

Parameter-wise list of indicators

Sr. no.ParametersWeightageIndicatorsIndicator names
1.DISCOM’s (Distribution Company) Performance40%91. Debt Equity Ratio
2. Aggregate Technical & Commercial Losses
3. Transmission & Distribution Losses
4. Average Cost of Supply (ACS) – Average Revenue Realised (ARR) gap
5. Implementation of Time of Day or Time of Use tariff for Consumers
6. States implemented Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)
7. Open Access Surcharge
8. Regulatory Assets
9. Complexity of Tariff
2.Access, Affordability and Reliability of Energy15%51. Per capita energy consumption
2. Hours of Electricity Supplied (Industry)
3. Hours of Electricity Supplied (Agriculture)
4. Cross-Subsidization
5. Life-line electricity and tariff
3.Clean Energy Initiatives15%31. Clean Cooking Fuel Supply
2. Renewable Energy Penetration
3. CNG Vehicle Penetration
4.Energy Efficiency 6%31. Energy Intensity of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP)
2. Energy savings in Commercial and Public Buildings
3. Industry Energy Savings
5.Environmental Sustainability12%41. Emission Intensity of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP)
2. Utilization of Renewal Energy potential
3. Percentage change in forest cover w.r.t. 2005
4. Forest carbon stock
6.New Initiatives12%31. Electric Vehicle penetration
2. Availability of Charging Infrastructure for Electric Mobility
3. Proportion of consumers with Smart meters

Categorization of States based on SECI Score

CategorySECI Score
Front-runner (Top one-third)Composite SECI score more than or equal to 46
Achievers (Middle one-third)Composite SECI scores between 36 and 46
Aspirants (Lowest one-third)Composite SECI score less than or equal to 36

Key Findings of State Energy and Climate Index 2022

  • Among the “Large States” category, Gujarat emerged as the top performer with a SECI score of 50.1, followed by Kerala (49.1) and Punjab (48.6).
  • In the category of “Smaller States“, Goa topped with a SECI score of 51.4, followed by Tripura (45.0) and Manipur (36.0)
  • Among the “UTs” category, Chandigarh (55.7), Delhi (55.6), and Daman & Diu/Dadra & Nagar Haveli (53.2) are the top performers.
  • Punjab is the best performer in DISCOM’s performance, whereas Kerala topped in the access, affordability, and reliability category.
  • Haryana is the best performer in Clean Energy Initiatives among the larger States, while Tamil Nadu was in the Energy Efficiency category.
  • In terms of Environment Sustainability and New Initiative parameters, Himachal Pradesh is the best performer among the larger States.

Performance by States and UTs based on SECI score

CategoryTop Three PerformersBottom Three Performers
Larger StatesGujarat, Kerala, PunjabJharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh
Smaller StatesGoa, Tripura, ManipurMeghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh
Union TerritoriesChandigarh, Delhi, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar HaveliAndaman & Nicobar, Jammu & Kashmir, Lakshadweep

India’s Climate Change commitments

To deal with the Climate Change, the Prime Minister of India, at the COP-26 UN Climate Change Conference held in Glasgow, presented five nectar elements, Panchamrit, which are as follows:

  • India will reach its non-fossil installed electricity capacity of 500 GW by 2030.
  • India will meet 50% of its electricity requirement from renewable energy by 2030.
  • India will reduce the total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes from now onwards till 2030.
  • By 2030, India will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by less than 45%.
  • By the year 2070, India will achieve the target of ‘Net-Zero‘ emissions.

These panchamrits will be an unprecedented contribution of India to climate action.

Leave a Comment

error: