Future forward:Going forward, States have to make data updation and validation a priority.AFPPRAKASH SINGH

Gujarat has topped the list for larger States in the NITI Aayog’s State Energy and Climate Index–Round 1 that has ranked States and Union Territories (UTs) on six parameters including discoms’ performance, energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.

The States have been categorised based on size and geographical differences as larger and smaller States and UTs. The index is based on 2019-20 data.

Gujarat, Kerala and Punjab have been ranked as the top three performers in the category of larger States, while Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were the bottom three States. Goa emerged as the top performer in the smaller States category followed by Tripura and Manipur. Among UTs, Chandigarh, Delhi and Daman & Diu/Dadra & Nagar Haveli are the top performers.

Punjab was the best performer in discom performance, while Kerala topped in access, affordability and reliability category.

Haryana was the best performer in clean energy initiative among larger States and Tamil Nadu in the energy efficiency category.

First step

“The State Energy and Climate Index (SECI) is the first index that aims to track the efforts made by States and UTs in the climate and energy sector...These parameters have been devised keeping in mind India’s goals for climate change and clean energy transition,” the report said.

It said the SECI is the first step in this journey where States can explore and benchmark themselves on various parameters. For instance, in terms of energy efficiency, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have done well while in terms of Discom’s performance, two small UTs — D&D and D&N — have done well.

Noting that for a few States, data for a few indicators are not available, which has also affected the overall ranking of the States, the report said data update and validation need to be a priority of State governments going forward to help them design better policies.

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