Delhi govt may provide subsidy for use of CNG gensets in its first green budget

The government is also going to give incentives to industries for using piped natural gas (PNG) instead of polluting pet coke and furnace oil that are banned in the NCR.

In its first Green Budget, the Delhi government is likely to introduce a subsidy scheme for those who shift to CNG-based generator sets.

Pollution is a major problem in Delhi. (PTI)

A proposal on this and a few other schemes from the environment, transport, power and forest departments were submitted to deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday.

The government is also going to give incentives to industries for using piped natural gas (PNG) instead of polluting pet coke and furnace oil that are banned in the NCR.

“The idea is to completely phase out diesel generator sets in the city by providing incentives to people. For industries, the government is in talks with Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) to incentivise shifting to PNG. The process of getting a connection will also be simplified,” an official who attended the review meeting held by Sisodia said.

The environment department is also planning to introduce ‘clean tandoors’ on a pilot basis by collaborating with National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) that has developed a prototype of eco-friendly stoves. Taking forward chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s announcement of conducting a study on indentifying sources of pollution in different seasons, the government is mulling to collaborate with the University of Washington for it.

The transport department will now procure 500 electric buses, instead of its initial proposal of to get 1,000 of such AC low-floor vehicles. A policy on electric vehicles will also be drafted.

“To push for clean and green public transport, we are preparing a policy for electric vehicle. It will focus on incentivsing two wheelers, especially BS-II ones, to shift to electric bikes,” said transport minister Kailash Gahlot. Emissions of BS-II vehicles are higher than BS-III and BS-IV. Delhi has around 20 lakh BS-II two-wheelers out of over 10 million registered vehicles.

The forest department has also proposed to plant 46 lakh saplings across Delhi at an estimated budget of Rs 1,200 crore. “The plan is to implement this program through resident welfare associations who will be eligible for funds to conduct plantation drives in their areas,” another official said.

Gauging the sluggish growth of solar power generation in the national capital, the power department has proposed to draft a separate scheme so that the PWD and government buildings could easily get such plants installed.

The public works department, which is the fifth department involved in the Green Budget has already decided to do landscaping of 500km of roads of 100 feet and above.

However, the total allocation towards the Green Budget and these projects is yet to be decided. Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, who is also the finance minister, has asked all five departments to get their proposals approved by the respective ministers and submit them along with the budgetary requirements to the planning and finance department by February 22.