Pradeep Kumar Panda

NITI Aayog has recently published the State Energy and Climate Index (SECI) 2022 with the objective of measuring the efforts of states made in the climate and energy sector in India. The first such index, SECI 2022 provides detailed analysis of performances of individual states to help enhance the service delivery on various parameters of energy which have been devised keeping in view India’s goal for climate change and clean energy transition.

The index consists of 27 indicators under six parameters namely DISCOM’s performance; access, affordability and reliability, clean energy initiatives; energy efficiency; environmental sustainability and new initiatives. The states and UTs are categorized into three groups (front runners, achievers and aspirants) based on the composite SECI score calculated on relevant data provided by concerned ministries for the reference year 2019-20. Gujarat, Kerala and Punjab are top three performers among larger states, Goa, Tripura, and Manipur are the best performing states in smaller state categories and Chandigarh, Delhi and D&D/D&N are top performers amongst the UTs. Odisha is ranked at 16th and is placed in the achiever category.

Experts from different institutions and relevant ministries finalized the parameters and indicators following several rounds of deliberations and discussions. The institutes and ministries involved in the process of finalization of parameters and indicators included IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, TERI, CEEW, Prayas, Ministry of Power (MoP), Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), and Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE).

The data was provided by different ministries such as CEA, PPAC and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). Parameters such as ‘performance of DISCOMS’has been given 40% weightage;both ‘access, affordability and reliability of energy’and ‘clean energy initiatives’have been given 15% weightage each; ‘environmental sustainability’ and ‘new initiatives’have been given 12% weightage each and‘energy efficiency’has been given 6% weightage in the overall index.

Details of Parameters and Weightage of SECI 2022

Parameter wise list of indicators of SECI 2022

Classification of States in SECI 2022

Categorization of States on the basis of SECI Core 2022

Overview of different parameters of SECI 2022

The country-level scores of each parameter are calculated as an average of the state-wise score for their respective parameters. The overall score for India works out to be 40.6. The average score at the national level for DISCOM’s performance is 56.8. The average scores of the parameters ‘access, affordability & reliability’, and ‘environmental sustainability’ are 46.4 and 37.7 respectively.Similarly, the average scores of the parameters ‘clean energy initiatives’ and ‘energy efficiency’ are 22.2 and 29.1 respectively. The all-India average score for new initiatives is 11.1 which is the lowest among all parameters.

SECI score reveals that Gujarat, Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Maharashtra are the Front-runners under the category of larger states. Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha are the achievers.However, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh fall under the aspirants category. Gujarat has achieved the highest score of 50.1 and Chhattisgarh has the lowest score of 31.7. Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa have greater scope for improvement in the parameters of ‘clean energy initiatives’, ‘energy efficiency’, ‘environmental sustainability’ and ‘new initiatives’.

Score and Ranking of Larger States in SECI 2022

Among the smaller states, Goa and Tripura are front-runners, Manipur is achiever and remaining smaller states fall in the category of aspirants. The highest score of 51.4 was achieved by Goa and the lowest score of 27 by Arunachal Pradesh. All the small states are performing average in the category of environmental sustainability and access, affordability & reliability with scores in range of 55-40 and 60-30 respectively.

In the third category of UTs, D&N/D&D, Chandigarh, Delhi and Puducherry are in the category of front-runners with a score of 53.2, 55.7, 55.6,and 48.5 respectively. J&K, A&N, and Lakshadweep fall in the category of aspirants with scores 29.3, 29.4, and 26.9 respectively. In terms of the first parameter of DISCOM’s performance,four UTs have scored above all India average and the overall score is in the range of 25-75.Similarly, in terms of the second parameter, three UTs have scored above all India average and the overall score is in the range of 25-61. Except Delhi, all other UTs’ performance on energy efficiency parameter needs improvement. On the parameter of clean energy initiatives, Chandigarh, D&D/D&N, and Delhi are performing well with scores of 69.2, 68.6,and 67.6 respectively.

Score and Ranking of Smaller States and UTs in SECI 2022

Odisha has secured the SECI score of 37.1 (Overall rank 22 and Category rank 16) and comes under the category of achievers. Table-7 below provides indicator and parameter wise score of Odisha in SECI 2022. Odisha’s scores in different parameters such as ‘DISCOM’s performance’;‘access, affordability and reliability’; ‘environmental sustainability’; ‘energy efficiency’;‘clean energy initiative’; and ‘new initiatives’ are 59.0, 57.4, 22.6, 21.8, 4.8, and 0.9 respectively.

Odisha has secured relatively better score in two parameters namely ‘DISCOM’s performance’(59.0) and ‘Access, affordability and reliability’ (57.4). However, in ‘clean energy initiatives’ parameter, it’s score is forth lowest (4.8)among the larger states and it is placed just above Assam (4.3), Jharkhand (2.9) and Chhattisgarh (2.1).Similarly, in ‘new initiatives’ parameter, it’s score is 0.9 which is the third lowest among the larger sates and it is just above Telangana (0.4) and Andhra Pradesh (0). In the parameters of ‘energy efficiency’ (21.8) and ‘environmental sustainability’ (22.6), the state has greater scope of improvement.

Score and Ranking of Odisha in SECI 2022

The state needs to take concerted efforts in the areas of clean cooking fuel (LPG), renewable energy penetration (solar and wind energy), and CNG vehicle penetration.The state also needs implement new initiatives related to electronic vehicle penetration and developing charging infrastructure for electric mobility.There is also huge scope for energy savings in commercial and public buildings and utilization of renewable energy potential in the states.Therefore, the state government needs to take several proactive policy reforms, put in place enabling institutional frameworks and incentive mechanisms in order to promote suitable energy and environmental sustainable measures.

(Writer is an economist based in New Delhi. Views are personal)

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