Eco-friendly subsidies by the Government of India for environmental protection
The burden on natural resources is at its tipping point in India and the world as a result of which, we are looking for newer ways to harness renewable sources of energy and slowly decrease our dependence on fossil fuels.
The population boom and a major slump in the economy have forced us to look at alternative sources of energy and production which is why our government has announced various subsidy schemes to incentivize the use of eco-friendly means across various industries and household use.
Here is a list of popular eco-friendly subsidies announced by the Government of India for environmental protection:
- In-situ Upgradation of Plain Power looms by Government of India, Ministry of Textiles (MoT)
Objective: To help high-power consuming power loom users with economically weaker backgrounds to upgrade their looms to semi-automatic/shuttleless looms via some attachments to conserve power.
This scheme began on 1st April 2017 and will run till 31 March 2020. Under this scheme, the quantum of subsidy per loom is Rs. 81000/- after determination of entrepreneur category (General, SC, ST, etc.)
- Solar Energy Scheme for Farmers by Government of India, Ministry of Agriculture (MoA)
> Objective: To help farmers generate electricity on their farms via solar energy and to run tubewell pumps with stored solar energy and save on hefty power bills.
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> Under this comprehensive Solar Energy Scheme for Farming Sector Development, the Government of India is incentivizing farmers to adopt the installation of On-Grid Solar Photo Voltaic Plant (without Battery backup) and Off-Grid Solar Photo Voltaic Plant (with Battery back-up) on their farms.
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> The maximum subsidy under the scheme is Rs. 8.55 lakh after determination of entrepreneur category (General, SC, ST, etc.)
- Integrated Processing Development Scheme (IPDS) by Government of India, Ministry of Textiles (MoT)
> Objective: To help farmers generate electricity on their farms via solar energy and to run tubewell pumps with stored solar energy.
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> Wit the new IPDS, the government is now supporting the installation of CETPs (Common Effluent Treatment Plant) to help manufacturers adopt environmentally friendly processing standards and technology.
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> This will boost wastewater management in the processing sector and will benefit manufacturers of marine, riverine and ZLD (Zero liquid discharge) systems. The current subsidy in this area is Rs. 75 crores for ZLD and Marine discharge and Rs. 10 crores for riverine and conventional treatment which is roughly 50% of the project cost.
- Subsidy on purchase of Electrical Vehicles (EVs) by Government of India, Ministry of Finance (MoF)
> Objective: The government has announced that under the FAME scheme (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles - EVs) the government aims to have seven million electric vehicles plying on the road by the year 2020.
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> To incentivize this, the government is offering subsidy on EVs (three- and four-wheelers doing commercial and fleet applications) by lowering GST on purchase of e-vehicles from 12 percent to 5 percent and Rs 1.5 lakh tax exemption for the purchase of an electric vehicle by an individual for personal commutation purposes.
- Subsidy scheme for watermills and Micro Hydel Projects (up to 100 kW) by Government of India, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)
> Objective: The government is encouraging the installation of micro-hydel projects and watermills in NGOs, tea gardens and other businesses especially in remote and hilly areas to generate their own power.
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> The subsidy on these projects is Rs. 50,000 for electrical up to 5kW watermills (per watermill) and Rs. 1,50,000 for up to 5kW mechanical watermills (per watermill). In the case of micro-hydel projects, the government is waiving off Rs. 1,25,000 per kW in each project provided that 10% of the project cost is met by the project owners.
