On July 2, 2020, NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) jointly launched the India Energy Modelling Forum (IEMF) under the US–India Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP). Now, for its constitution, on October 8, 2020 NITI Aayog announced its governing structure.
- IEMF aims to engage Indian researchers, knowledge partners, think tanks and national and international government agencies and departments for long-term energy planning.
Governing structure of IEMF:
It will consist of an inter-ministerial and a steering committee.
About inter-ministerial committee:
It will be convened by NITI Aayog and headed by its Chief Executive Officer (CEO)(Presently Amitabh Kant). It will review the studies/modelling activities and provide directions and new areas of research.
- Other members: Senior officials from the ministries of petroleum and natural gas; power; new and renewable energy; coal; environment, forest and climate change; and department of science and technology.Â
About steering committee:
It will shortlist policy issues to be taken up for study and might form various taskforces depending on the specific studies/modelling exercises to be carried out.Â
Convener: The convener of this committee will be selected on a rotational basis for two years and will act as the interface between the inter-ministerial and steering committees and the working groups.Â
- Prayas Group, Pune (Maharashtra) will be the first convener of the steering committee.
Other Representatives:
- Government (Ministries of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC); new and renewable energy; statistics and programme implementation; Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council; Coal Controller’s Organization (CCO); Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell; Central Electricity Authority; and NITI Aayog)
- Industry Associations viz. Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
- Academia– IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) of Bombay, Ahmedabad, and Delhi
- Policy research organizations, think tanks and funding agencies viz. Prayas Energy Group; Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation (SSEF), Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), Integrated Research and Action for Development (IRADe), The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Department for International Development (DFID), World Resources Institute (WRI), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA).
Point to be noted:
The Sustainable Growth is one of the four pillars of the US–India SEP entailing energy data management, energy modelling and collaboration on low carbon technologies as three key activities.
- Other three pillars are Power and Energy Efficiency; Oil and Gas; and Renewable Energy.
Recent Related News:
i.NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), has launched AIM iCREST – an Incubator Capabilities enhancement program for a Robust Ecosystem focused on creating high performing Startups in collaboration with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wadhwani Foundation.
ii.On 26th August 2020, NITI Aayog in partnership with Institute of Competitiveness released the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2020, this is the first report to examine export preparedness and performance of the states of India. Gujarat was identified as the top performing state in the category of Coastal state and also topped the Overall rankings.
About United States Agency for International Development (USAID):
Acting Administrator – John Barsa
Headquarter – Washington, D.C., United States
