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Indian Express
6 hours ago
- General
- Indian Express
Centre again relaxes SO2 emission norms for coal plants around Delhi-NCR
The Union Environment Ministry on Saturday once again relaxed its deadline for coal plants around Delhi-NCR to meet its sulphur emission (SO2) norms introduced in 2015, while completely exempting several plants located in a 10-km radius of critically-polluted areas from meeting these norms. The order, issued on Saturday, means that of the 600 coal plants that were directed to meet SO2 emissions, only 66 – located within a 10-km radius of Delhi-NCR – will have to comply. The compliance deadline for these plants will be December 31, 2027. The order effectively exempts several coal plants from installing pollution-cutting flue-gas desulphurisation (FGD) technology, which reduces SO2 emissions from the plant's exhaust gases. The government's latest order is the fifth deadline extension given to plant operators since the norms were notified in 2015. Sulphur dioxide, a harmful pollutant, also aids formation of particulate matter that is lethal and can enter the bloodstream. These 66 plants, termed as 'Category A' plants, are located within a 10-km radius of Delhi-NCR or cities with over a million population as per the 2011 Census. There are 72 plants in 'Category B' – located within a 10-km radius of critically polluted areas or cities not in compliance with national air quality standards – on whom SO2 norms will be applicable on a 'case to case' basis, the order said. Meanwhile, over 450 'Category C' plants, which are neither near Delhi-NCR nor near critically polluted areas, have been completely exempted from meeting the sulphur emission norms. However, they will have to adhere to the stack height criteria and timeline, as prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the order added. The order came on the back of multiple studies, as well as recommendations made by a high-powered committee chaired by Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) Ajay Kumar Sood. The committee had concluded that the installation of FGD was not necessary in all coal plants. In a report, the National Institute of Advanced Studies submitted to the high-powered committee that Indian coal, used to generate 92% electricity produced by thermal plants, has a low average sulphur content. In fact, it said that FGD installation in all coal plants by 2030 will increase auxiliary power consumption and add more long-lived carbon dioxide emissions, while removing short-lived sulphur dioxide emissions. All the studies considered by the office of the PSA had instead called for focussing efforts on cutting particulate matter pollution and installing electrostatic precipitators. The order stated that the CPCB had submitted recommendations after detailed analysis and study of national ambient air quality standards of sulphur dioxide across most regions. It added that the pollution control measures were causing an increase in carbon dioxide emissions as well increasing footprint due to use of limestone, and its transportation. The order further said that an explicit recommendation has been received from the Ministry of Power about relaxation in timelines to meet norms. '…several stakeholder consultations were done with Industry… Ministry of Power, Central Pollution Control Board, scientific institutions, and other stakeholders regarding these emission standards and their timeline,' it added. The government had identified 537 coal plant units with a capacity of over 200 Gigawatts (GW) for FGD installation. Of these, the technology has already been installed in 49 units with a capacity of 25 GW, as per data provided by the government in Lok Sabha in March. Contracts awarded for 211 units (90 GW) and 180 units (58 GW) were under various stages of the tendering process. About 97 units with a capacity of 27 GW were under the pre-tendering process, the government had said. An award-winning journalist with 14 years of experience, Nikhil Ghanekar is an Assistant Editor with the National Bureau [Government] of The Indian Express in New Delhi. He primarily covers environmental policy matters which involve tracking key decisions and inner workings of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. He also covers the functioning of the National Green Tribunal and writes on the impact of environmental policies on wildlife conservation, forestry issues and climate change. Nikhil joined The Indian Express in 2024. Originally from Mumbai, he has worked in publications such as Tehelka, Hindustan Times, DNA Newspaper, News18 and Indiaspend. In the past 14 years, he has written on a range of subjects such as sports, current affairs, civic issues, city centric environment news, central government policies and politics. ... Read More
The Hindu
04-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
‘To emerge as a true global power, India must secure technological sovereignty'
Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, who delivered the convocation address, has said that in an ever-evolving world, technology will be the greatest enabler for youth. Mr. Sood, who delivered the convocation address of the Visvesvaraya Technological Univesity on Friday, said, 'It is a force that will not only shape your personal and professional paths, but also play a crucial role in building a stronger India. As both a catalyst and a cornerstone of national progress, technology transforms how we live, work, and connect. It fuels economic growth through innovation, enhances productivity in vital sectors like agriculture and healthcare, and bridges critical gaps in education and public service delivery,'' he said. 'To emerge as a true global power, India must secure technological sovereignty — the ability to design, develop, and deploy critical technologies independently, especially in the era of artificial intelligence (AI). And this is especially crucial today, in an era where AI is redefining how the world thinks, works, and competes. 'Across the globe, AI models like OpenAI's GPT, Google's Gemini, and China's DeepSeek have already shown us the extraordinary influence of foundational technologies. They're not just tools but breakthroughs that are shaping economies, steering geopolitics, and influencing culture and national security. 'DeepSeek, in particular, disrupted the global AI landscape by delivering a powerful language model at a fraction of the cost of its Western counterparts proving that world-class innovation is no longer limited to tech giants. 'This transformation signals a clear message: India must act now. Not only to reduce dependency, but to ensure that our languages, cultures, and ethical values are embedded in the digital systems of tomorrow. This isn't just about catching up. It's about leading,' he said. In response to this challenge, the Government of India had launched the IndiaAI Mission, which was a bold initiative to build indigenous AI models tailored for India's needs. Under this mission, four pioneering start-ups — Soket AI, Sarvam AI, and — were developing multilingual, emotion-aware AI systems that reflected the richness of our 22 official languages and countless regional dialects. These models were being trained on Indian datasets, with applications across defence, agriculture, education, and healthcare, he said. The Department of Higher Education had taken a forward-looking step by establishing four Centres of Excellence (CoEs), each dedicated to building capacity in cutting-edge technologies. These centres focused on areas like AI in healthcare, agriculture, and sustainable cities. By aligning academic learning with real-world challenges, these CoEs are not only preparing our students and researchers for tomorrow but also aimed for actively shaping the vision of Viksit Bharat,' he said. Governor's call Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, in his address, called upon young engineering graduates to use their innovative and creative spirit to create new industries and join hands in nation building. He said that they should create industries and provide employment. He also said that today's graduates should pay attention to environmental protection and engage in research and development that helped society. The university presented honorary doctorates to V. Narayanan, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation, Prashant Prakash, founder, Excel India, and C.S. Sunder Raju, Chancellor, Atria University, Bengaluru. Vice-Chancellor S. Vidyashankar was present.
The Hindu
20-06-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
NABARD to lend ₹10,000 cr in FY26 for green projects
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) plans to lend about ₹10,000 crore this year as part of its Green Lending Facility. Deputy Managing Director Ajay Kumar Sood said NABARD launched the facility in FY25 to fund projects of Central and State governments, government agencies and private entities aimed at meeting sustainable development goals. The minimum loan amount disbursed would be ₹100 crore and these are for projects such as ethanol plants and electric vehicles. The demand of funds for green projects is high, he said.
Time of India
17-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
NABARD urges bankers to move towards value chain financing, market-linked interventions
Synopsis Ajay Kumar Sood of NABARD encouraged bankers to adopt value chain financing. He emphasized moving past traditional lending methods. Cooperative Banks will now lend to LAMPS and PACS for farmers. Sood marked the International Year of Cooperatives - 2025. He inaugurated JIVA Natural Farming Projects. He visited FPOs and Tribal Development Projects.
India Gazette
07-06-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
Delhi: National Workshop on Alternate Data Sources and Frontier Technologies focuses on policy making
New Delhi [India], June 7 (ANI): The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), in partnership with NITI Aayog and the World Bank as a knowledge partner, organised a two-day National Workshop entitled 'Using Alternate Data Sources and Frontier Technologies for Policy Making.' This event took place at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on June 5 and 6. The National Workshop concluded with a Valedictory Session on 6 June. According to the release, the Valedictory Session was graced by Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to GoI as the Chief Guest; Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, D/o Science and Technology; Dr. Saurabh Garg, Secretary, MoSPI and P.R. Meshram, Director General, MoSPI. The two-day workshop was attended by over 450 participants from central ministries, state governments, international organisations, including the World Bank, academic and research institutions, and private sector entities. In his address, Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor to GoI and the Chief Guest of the event, emphasised that alternate data sources and frontier technologies are increasingly becoming critical for policy making. These high-frequency indicators are more dynamic and offer timely insights, enabling policies to be more agile and responsive. While traditional data sources reflect where we have been, the alternative data sources indicate where we are heading. He added that though alternative data sources provide real-time information at a much granular level, they cannot replace traditional data sources. He emphasised the need for the best policy, which blends both traditional and alternative data sources. He highlighted various use cases where alternate data sources have been effectively used. He stressed the need for collaboration between the Government, academia, researchers, industry and international organisations for the effective use of new technologies. He also called for the ethical deployment of AI and said that data security and privacy concerns cannot be compromised. Further, he asserted that the development of the techno-legal framework for Digital Public Infrastructure is a gift of India to the World. Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, D/o Science and Technology, in his address, remarked that the policy-making process is a complex exercise which involves gathering of data, consultation with stakeholders and drawing insights. AI/ML has facilitated the timely processing of data for designing actionable policies. In this age and time, the challenge is not to collect data but to make sense of the data. The real challenge lies in addressing issues relating to data privacy, data security, regulatory framework, and institutional readiness. He emphasised the need for an institutionalised hybrid data ecosystem which has equal place for both traditional and alternative data sources. Dr. Saurabh Garg, Secretary, MoSPI, in his address emphasised the need to foster collaboration with various stakeholders for developing a robust statistical system to address the data needs for policy making. He opined that as survey data becomes available with a time lag, alternative data sources can be used to supplement traditional data sources for policy making in real time. While quoting the United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, he emphasised that for statistical purposes best combination of the four data sources, namely surveys, censuses, administrative records and alternate data sources, may be drawn with quality and timeliness, along with limiting cost and respondent burden. He expected that in the next 3-6 months, MoSPI would be able to implement some of the use cases that have been identified to harness alternate data sources and the application of frontier technologies. He thanked the World Bank for conceptualising and NITI Aayog for collaborating with MoSPI in organising this workshop and expressed that India will be at the forefront of integrating alternate data sources and frontier technologies in the National Statistical Frameworks. In the welcome address, P.R. Meshram, Director General (Data Governance), expressed gratitude to NITI Aayog, World Bank, and other participants for their active involvement during the two-day event. He added that the workshop has not only deepened our understanding of the challenges in the integration of alternate data sources in the statistical system of the country, but also helped chart out the solutions to the challenges. The key highlights of the four technical sessions on the subjects, viz, AI and Data Science for Official Statistics; Mobile Phone Data for Tourism Statistics; Geo-spatial Data for Sampling, Ocean Accounting and Data Dissemination and Scanner data for CPI compilation held during Workshop were also discussed during the valedictory session along with key takeaways. Some of the salient points of the technical sessions are as under: Technical sessions on the subject started with setting the context for the use of AI and data science in official statistics and identifying key stakeholders. Way forward for National Statistics Office, considering the stage it is in, i.e. from pilot stage to production stage, was discussed during the session. Abhishek Singh, CEO, India AI and Debjani Ghosh, Chief Architect, Frontier Tech Hub, NITI Aayog, Ankit Bose, Head AI, NASSCOM, Prof. Balaraman Ravindran, IIT-Madras, Richard Campbell, UK ONS, and Thomas Danielewitz, Malar Veerappan, Shreya Dutt from World Bank were among the key speakers. Technical Sessions on the subject also focused on discussion to devise a methodological framework using mobile phone data for tourism statistics tailored to Indian needs and covered relevant issues like data privacy and regulatory challenges. Use-cases from other countries for tourism, urban mobility and infrastructure assessment were discussed during the technical session. Safi A. Rizvi, Advisor, NDMA, Siim Esko, International Project Development Lead, Positium, Esperanza Magpantay, Senior Statistician, International Telecommunication Union, Titi Kanti Lestari, Atma Jaya University, Indonesia, Asit Kadyan, D/o Telecommunication, GoI and Sagar Mathur, Vice President, Airtel, were among the key speakers. Technical Sessions on Geo-spatial Data for Sampling, Ocean Accounting and Data Dissemination of the workshop highlighted the transformative potential of geospatial technologies in enhancing official statistics, with a focus on updating sampling frames in urban areas, improving data collection, integration, and dissemination. The latter part of the technical session was devoted to exploring the application of geospatial data in ocean accounting. The session featured enriching presentations and discussions by Richard Campbell, Deputy Director, UK Office for National Statistics; Kate Hess, Solution Engineer, ESRI; Srikant Shastri, Chairperson, Geospatial Data Promotion & Development Committee; Anija Shukla, Environment Specialist, World Bank; Rashmi Verma, Co-Founder, MapMyIndia, along with experts from NRSC, INCOIS, NCCR and various academic and research institutions. Speakers demonstrated advanced geospatial tools integrated with AI techniques for feature extraction, change detection, and spatial stratification, showcasing use cases that illustrated the value of GIS-AI convergence for dynamic visualisations, real-time dashboards, and evidence-based policymaking. Technical sessions on the subject covered concepts and methodologies related to scanner data, web scraping techniques, requisite IT infrastructure and other available alternative data sources for integration in Consumer Price Index (CPI). Key speakers in the session were Federico Polidoro, World Bank; Luigi Palumbo from the Bank of Italy, Prof. Himanshu from JNU, Dr. Aditi Chaubal from IIT Bombay, Anand Agarwal from V-Mart, Sonu Shah from Nielsen IQ and many others from industry and academic organisations. Sessions provided valuable insights for accelerating MoSPI's ongoing efforts for the integration of alternative data sources, particularly scanner data and e-commerce data in CPI compilation methodology. The workshop concluded with a vote of thanks by Dr. Ashutosh Ojha, DDG, MoSPI. He expressed gratitude to the Chief Guest, other dignitaries, participants from Multilateral agencies, industries, academia, researchers, as well as officers from both central and state governments for gracing the event. (ANI)
