(21 November 2022) Government Data Roundup: CPI Numbers, Estimates of IIP, Report on Municipal Finances by RBI, Among the Data/Reports Released Recently.

Brief about the report:

This index tracks variations in the economy’s level of industrial production. It conveys the tone of the nation’s industrial activity. This index’s base year is 2011–12, and it is given a value of one hundred. This index provides a short-term examination of industrial performance in contrast to the annual survey of industries, which provides a complete and detailed picture of industrial activity. The Indian Bureau of Mines, the coffee board, the tea board, and the central power authority are just a few of the fourteen organisations that provide the data for this index.

The three sectors of mining (14.2%), manufacturing (75.5%), and electricity (10.1%) make up the industrial production index. Their relative weights are shown by the values in the brackets. As an alternative, there is a classification of commodities known as “use-based.” – primary goods (34.05%), capital goods (8.22%), intermediate goods (17.22%), infrastructure goods (12.34%), consumer durables (12.84%), and consumer non-durables (15.33%).

Key Highlights:

• The Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 2011–12 is 133.5 for the month of September 2022. In terms of sectors, the mining, manufacturing, and electricity sectors’ respective Indices of Industrial Production are 99.5, 134.3, and 187.4, respectively.
• As per the use-based classification, the indices for September 2022 are 128.2 for primary goods, 102.9 for capital goods, 145.8 for intermediate goods, and 155.8 for goods used in infrastructure and construction. Additionally, for the month of September 2022, the consumer durables and non-durables indices are 125.1 and 136.9, respectively.
• Only the mining sector performance has been declining since May 2022, while the manufacturing, and electricity sector have been improving monthly.

Brief about the report:

The MNRE has been promoting bioenergy in India since the 1980s to use the enormous excess biomass, cow dung, industrial, and urban biowaste that is available in the nation for the recovery of energy. On 2 November 2022, the National Bioenergy Programme was notified by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India. The National Bioenergy Programme has been continued by MNRE through 2025–26. Two phases for the program’s implementation have been suggested. A budget of Rs. 858 crores has been approved for the Program’s Phase-I.

The National Bioenergy Program shall comprise of the following initiatives- Waste to Energy Programme, Biomass Programme, and Biogas Programme

Key Highlights:

• The committed liabilities of the sanctions issued under the various sub-schemes of the National Bioenergy Programme up until the 31 March 2021 are also included in the authorised budget outlay of Rs. 858 crores under Phase-I.
• After deducting committed liabilities as of the date of EFC (i.e., 27 June 2022), the remaining committed liabilities under the National Bioenergy Programme that will be carried forward beyond 31 March 2026, should not exceed 50% of the entire outlay of the Programme
• Projects using bagasse for biomass cogeneration are not sponsored by the biomass programme. Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) shall be the nodal agency for the Biomass programme.

Brief about the report:

The National Compilation on Dynamic Ground Water Resources of India, 2022 was released by Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the Union Minister for Jal Shakti. The evaluation was completed collaboratively by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and the States/UTs, and it may be used by different stakeholders to make the best interventions possible. Previous instances of joint exercises between CGWB & States/UTs were in 1980, 1995, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2020.

Key Highlights:

• The overall number of assessment units in the country has grown from 6965 to 7089 compared to the 2020 assessment, with West Bengal, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, and Jharkhand making up most of the increase.
• The states of Bihar, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, and Gujarat have had the largest increases in the total annual ground water recharge, which has climbed from 436 to 437.6 BCM overall.
• In comparison to 2020 assessment, the yearly extractable resource grew from 397.6 to 398.08 BCM. The groundwater extraction has declined from 244.92 BCM to 239.16 BCM, and the total stage of groundwater extraction has also marginally reduced from 61.6% to 60.08%.

Brief about the report:

In line with the goal of lowering the economy’s carbon intensity, the Union Budget for 2022–2023 announced the issuance of Sovereign Green Bonds. Below is a verbatim of the budget: ‘As a part of the government’s overall market borrowings in 2022-23, sovereign Green Bonds will be issued for mobilizing resources for green infrastructure. The proceeds will be deployed in public sector projects which help in reducing the carbon intensity of the economy.’

The Government of India would benefit from the issuing of Sovereign Green Bonds by being able to attract the necessary funding from potential investors for use in public sector initiatives.

Key Highlights:

• A “Green Finance Working Committee” (GFWC) led by the Chief Economic Adviser of the Government of India has been established by the Ministry of Finance, to supervise and approve important decisions regarding the issuing of Sovereign green bonds. GFWC will meet at least twice a year to assist the Ministry with project selection, assessment, and other pertinent tasks,
• As per the standard treasury procedure, the revenues shall be put into the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI), after which money from the CFI would be made available for projects that qualify as green.
• The Ministry of Finance will establish a dedicated information system with the goal of keeping a comprehensive Green Register that contains information about the issue of green bonds, the revenues raised, and the allocations made to qualified projects.
• An annual report on the distribution of funds to qualifying projects will be published by GFWC, together with a description of the projects that were funded, an update on their progress toward completion, and any unspent funds. The impact of projects on the environment and the decrease of carbon intensity will also be evaluated and reported separately by GFWC.

Brief about the report:

On National Panchayati Raj Day, 24 April 2020, the Prime Minister introduced the SVAMITVA programme with the goal of providing each rural household owner in a rural inhabited area a “Record of Rights.” The programme addresses a variety of issues, such as making it easier to monetize properties and enable bank loans, lowering property-related disputes, and thorough village-level planning.

The Scheme is implemented in a phased manner. Based on the successful implementation and outcome of the pilot phase, the scheme was rolled out for implementation across all States/UTs on 24 April 2021. 31 States and UTs have so far signed memorandums of understanding (MoU) with the Survey of India to put the SVAMITVA Scheme into effect there.

Key Highlights:

• Through the recommendations, the primary objective is to further the adoption of record of rights, develop mechanisms for improving transparency in the scheme and inter-departmental linkages for effective cooperation in matters related to property tax assessment and collection.
• With regards to Abadi lands, to give record-of-rights legal legitimacy, the state laws governing ABADI lands must contain the provision of presumption of truth, and accordingly enactments or modifications to state laws must be made.
• The recommendations also call for adopting SVAMITVA datasets by the stakeholders as per the latest geospatial guidelines, RADPFI (Rural Area Development Plan Formulation and Implementation) Guidelines and encourage using SVAMTIVA data for proper village planning, thereby increasing capacity at all levels of governance for GIS skillsets, among others.

Brief about the report:

Till date, RBI has been publishing regular financial statistics about both the Union and State Governments. However, data regarding the third tier of governance was absent due to lack of availability of consolidated data. The RBI has published the maiden report of municipal finances this year, which shall be published annually to make it a regular publication, and to address such gaps in data.

The provision of local government statistics would also aid India’s Flow of Funds (FoF) accounts in broadening their sectoral coverage. In the future, municipal finances, which account for around 70% of the finances of urban local bodies in India, would be included in general government data issued by the RBI, and ongoing efforts will be made to broaden this coverage.

Key Highlights:

• The performance of the urban local bodies, particularly Municipal corporations/councils (MCs), reflects the fact that the rapid rise of urbanisation in India has not been followed by a matching increase in urban infrastructure.
• Although municipal budgets in India are far less than those in comparable nations, property tax collections and the devolution of taxes and subsidies from higher levels of government account for most revenues, which results in a lack of financial autonomy.
• The amount of committed spending by MCs on establishment costs, administrative expenses, and interest and financing charges is increasing, but capital spending is comparatively low.
• In the absence of a significant market for municipal bonds, MCs must primarily fund their resource gaps through borrowing from banks and other financial institutions as well as loans from the federal or state governments.
• It is also recommended that the MCs shall adopt better auditing & transparent accounting mechanisms with adequate oversight. They must be rational in using their fiscal resources.

Brief about the report:

It was decided to strengthen cooperation in the areas of Energy Data Management, Low Carbon Technologies, Carbon Market, and Just Transition in Coal Sector and form four committees involving Indian and US counterparts in the relevant fields at a Sustainable Growth Pillar meeting held on 12 July 2021, as part of the India-US Strategic Partnership.

In response, a committee on just transition in the coal sector was established, consisting of eighteen members from India and the US. The current report on ‘Just Transition in Coal Sector’ has been created based on talks held and feedback from various committee members.

Key Highlights:

• The Committee identified five key issues that are to be addressed- Livelihoods, Community Health, Physical and Social Infrastructure, Repurposing of resources, and Public Finance
• A clear policy framework will be needed because of the transition’s complexity and length. This will give the suggested activities the required administrative and legal support. It is therefore advised that the Union Government formulate a “Just Transition Policy for Coal.”
• Based on interactions with the local communities, coal-bearing states should establish a broad framework and plan for a future after closure in these areas. A detailed geospatial survey of areas with coal deposits could be conducted to create a plan for coal mine closure.
• The Union Government should promote the just transition process in coal mines by providing adequate financial assistance. To do this, a special non-lapsable “Green Energy Transition India Fund”, could be established to aid the coal-bearing regions and states to undertake alternative development strategies.
• The revenues for such a fund could be raised through green bonds, special cess or fines, clean energy cess, and district mineral funds. A well-defined accountability mechanism should also be put in place for effective utilization of the funds.

Brief about the report:

The Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP) is a part of the U.S.-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership. With a renewed focus on electrification and decarbonization of processes and end uses, scaling up innovative clean energy technology, and finding solutions for challenging-to-decarbonize sectors, the SCEP will continue to improve energy security and innovation.

This is the second committee established to strengthen cooperation in the areas of Energy Data Management, Low Carbon Technologies, Carbon Market, and Just Transition in Coal Sector.

Key Highlights:

• One-fourth of India’s GHG emissions come from industries, and more than half of the share in industries contribution is led by iron and steel and cement sector – either through energy use or industry process emissions. It is therefore important to decarbonize these industries.
• Some challenges faced in decarbonization of industries are:
  • Steel and cement industries require elevated temperatures during production process. Replacing the existing fossil fuel run furnaces to clean energy resources require significant changes in production process.
  • Cost is one of the key decisive factors for products made of steel and cement. Hence, any decarbonization model that increases the cost of production might not be viable.
  • Companies or nations that embrace low-carbon methods and technology but raise their production costs will be at a cost disadvantage compared to industrial manufacturers that do not.
• For decarbonization of cement and steel industry, measures such as transitioning to sustainable biomass in place of fossil fuel, 100% renewable energy, promoting circular economy models for greater utilization of wastes, facilitating carbon markets, green procurement and green labelling policies, and adequate funding are suggested to be explored.

Brief about the report:

Energy data in India is quite decentralized, and highly unstandardized. It is challenging to automate the process of data exchange and publication on dashboards due to the lack of defined formats.

To ensure uniform reporting of data, it is necessary to standardise the definitions, terminologies, and calculation processes for all the important parameters in the energy sector. This committee was formed to identify parameters that are to be standardized across various energy statistics products in India. This is the third committee established to strengthen cooperation in the areas of Energy Data Management, Low Carbon Technologies, Carbon Market, and Just Transition in Coal Sector, under the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership between India and US.

Key Highlights:

• Standardization of measurement units should be followed, along with having a proper list of classifications for energy sources, economic/statistical units, energy products, energy resources, and geographical area.
• It is recommended that adequate metadata must be provided for national energy statistics that defines and describes data, so that its usage can be made effective.
• All the stakeholders shall enquire with the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation to provide requisite information on energy specific parameters that can be included in the periodic surveys that MoSPI conducts.
• Strengthen the existing Energy Statistics Division (ESD) of MoSPI to enable better compilation of the key information on energy statistics. Additionally, ESD could be asked to create a compendium of concepts and definitions used by different source agencies and based on which energy statistics are compiled.
• A clear hierarchy and outline of rights and responsibilities of the agencies involved is key to success of energy data management system.