NITI Aayog’s 1st SECI Round -I April 2022: Gujarat, Kerala, Punjab top among Larger States

On April 11, 2022, NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog has launched the 1st State Energy & Climate Index (SECI)-Round I April 2022 at an event chaired by Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog. It is based on 2019-20 data.

• SECI is the first index that aims to track the efforts made by States and Union Territories (UTs) in the climate and energy sector. 
• The states of Gujarat, Kerala, and Punjab are the top 3 among larger states while Goa, Tripura, and Manipur are top 3 among smaller states.
• Among UTs, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli ranked 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively.

What is in the SECI Round I?

It ranks the states’ performance on 6 parameters, namely viz. DISCOM’s Performance; Access, Affordability and Reliability of Energy; Clean Energy Initiatives; Energy Efficiency; Environmental Sustainability; and New Initiatives.  The parameters are further divided into 27 indicators. 

• Based on the composite SECI Round I score, the states and UTs are categorized into three groups: Front Runners, Achievers, and Aspirants.
• The states have been categorized based on size and geographical differences as 20 larger states, 8 smaller states, and 8 UTs. 
• The data of Ladakh is shared with Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).

Index Toppers: Scores and Rankings

6 Parameters wise topper:

Table showing Front Runners, Achievers, Aspirants:

i.The front runners are top one-third states/UTs whose Composite SECI score>=46.

ii.The Achievers are Middle one-third states/UTs whose Composite SECI score between 36 and 46.

iii.The Aspirants Lowest one-third states/UTs whose Composite SECI score<=36.

In SECI Round I there 11 Front Runners, 11 Achievers, and 13 Aspirants

Click Here for Official Index

Benefit of SECI:

The index can be used by the states and UTs to benchmark their performance against their peers, analyse the potential challenges to develop better policy mechanisms, and efficiently manage their energy resources.

• It encourages healthy competition among the states on the agenda of affordable, accessible, efficient and clean energy transition at the State level.

Points to be noted:

i.Our Central Government notified following five nectar elements, Panchamrit, to deal with climate change at the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference held in Glasgow, United Kingdom (UK) in 2021 :

• India will reach its non-fossil installed electricity capacity to 500 GW by 2030.
• India will meet 50 percent of its electricity requirements from renewable energy by 2030.
• India will reduce the total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes from now onwards till 2030.
• By 2030, India will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by less than 45%.
• By the year 2070, India will achieve the target of Net-zero. 

ii.Recently, India ranked 10th, 2nd time in a row, as per the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI 2022), as a high-performing country.

Recent Related News:

i.On 8th March 2022, during International Women’s Day NITI Aayog’s, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), partnered with Snap Inc. to drive Augmented Reality (AR) skilling among the Indian youth along with the launch of a nationwide Lensathon (AR making hackathon), throughout the month of March.

ii.NITI Aayog, in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness, released the 2nd edition of the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2021. Gujarat has retained the top position in the overall ranking with its total share in exports accounting for 20.83% as of 2020-2021.

About NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India):

Establishment– 2015
CEO-Amitabh Kant
Headquarters– New Delhi, Delhi