NITI Aayog mulls setting up National Energy Commission, to be based on a similar body in China

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Yogima Sharma of the Times of India.

The government is considering a proposal to set up a National Energy Commission, on the lines of a similar body in China, to coordinate among half a dozen ministries for implementing an upcoming overarching energy policy.

The NITI Aayog proposal is currently pending with the Prime Minister's Office.

India meets more than three fourths of its energy requirements through imports. The imports, worth around $150 billion annually, is expected to double by 2030 unless a planned strategy to reduce demand for fossil fuel is put in place at the earliest. The NITI Aayog, which replaced the erstwhile Planning Commission, has prepared a background paper outlining the broad structure of the National Energy Policy announced by President Pranab Mukherjee while addressing the first sitting of Parliament under the BJP-led NDA government last year.

India needs a central body to work with all ministries that deal with energy-related matters to develop a common strategy, a senior government official at the NITI Aayog told ET. "We are exploring the possibility of a central body that would break down the silos that currently exist between different ministries and work with an integrated approach towards the energy security needs of the country over a longer period," the official said, requesting not to be named.

The proposal is in sync with the views of former President APJ Abdul Kalam, who had underlined the need for India to have a National Energy Commission to coordinate the efforts.

Another senior official, who is associated with the exercise, said the planned policy will be based on existing demand-supply situation and possible future scenarios. The Niti Aayog paper has proposed the need to work towards developing energy-related infrastructure, human resource and enhanced use of technology for optimum utilisation of available resources, this official said, requesting anonymity.

"The paper, which proposes an overarching energy policy for the country, is pending with the PMO and once approved, we will start stakeholder consultation to give a final shape to this government's National Energy Policy," the official said. The new policy will replace the Integrated Energy Policy of the previous government which had failed to take off, this official added.

Energy Minister Piyush Goyal had said last month that the NITI Aayog was looking at energy security plans for the next 100 years. National Energy Commission .

To meet these targets while also reducing imports of fuels, it is aiming to increase production of renewable energy fivefold to 300 billion units by 2019 and raise coal production to 1.5 billion tonne from about a third of that at present. The idea is to reduce energy imports by 10% by 2022 and cut it down further by 50% by 2030.

The UPA government in 2004 set up a committee to come up with an Integrated Energy Policy. The committee submitted its report in 2006, but the Cabinet approved it only in 2008.

However, it never took off in a big way as the ministries continued to work towards achieving their individual targets while missing out the holistic approach towards the issue of the country's energy security.