Lok Sabha Question No. 878 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-23
Subject: Indian Cooling Action Plan
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Jasbir Singh Gill

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 878

TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.07.2021

## Indian Cooling Action Plan

## 878. SHRI JASBIR SINGH GILL

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the steps taken to reduce cooling demand across sectors by 20 percent to 25 percent by 2037-38 as envisaged in the Indian Cooling Action Plan (ICAP);
- (b) the present status of training and certification of 100,000 servicing sector technicians by 2022-23 in line with Skill India Mission as was envisioned in the ICAP;
- (c) the  details  of  steps  taken  to  reduce  refrigerant  demand  by  25  percent  to  30  percent  by 2037-38 under the said program; and
- (d) the  manner in which the Government proposes to improve cold chain infrastructure and double farmers income as envisaged under the said program?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a) and  (c):  The  India  Cooling  Action  Plan  (ICAP),  launched  in  March  2019,  provides  an integrated vision towards cooling across sectors encompassing inter-alia reduction of cooling demand, refrigerant transition, enhancing energy efficiency and better technology options by 2037-38 through forging synergies with on-going programmes/schemes of the Government. The  steps  taken  to  reduce  cooling  demand  across  sectors  by  20  to  25  percent  and  reduce refrigerant demand by 25 to 30 percent by 2037-38 are as follows:
- (i) Towards  promoting  passive  cooling  in  buildings,  Bureau  of  Energy  Efficiency  (BEE)  has brought out the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) for all large commercial (nonresidential) buildings and Eco-Niwas Samhita (ECBC-R) in all housing projects. In order to enforce  efficient  building  envelope  guidelines  in  the  construction  of  commercial  and residential buildings, 18 States/Union Territories have notified the ECBC.
- (ii) Implementation of Star and Labelling programme, Minimum Energy Performance Standards including  new  energy  performance  standards  for  all  room  air  conditioners  to  have  default temperature setting of 24ºC are some of the initiatives taken by the BEE to reduce cooling load as well as refrigerant demand and promote energy efficiency.
- (iii)To  promote  indigenous  development  of  new  generation  low  global  warming  potential refrigerants, the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India has funded a research project to the CSIR- Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad.
- (iv) Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, in collaboration with Bureau of Indian Standards has undertaken  a  study  on  developing  safety  standards  for  adopting  non  Ozone  Depleting Substance  and  low  global  warming  potential  refrigerants  in  the  Refrigeration  and  Airconditioning sector.
- (v) New product category of green room air-conditioners has been launched on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
- (vi) The  Ozone  Cell  of  the  MoEF&CC,  in  collaboration  with  the  Energy  Efficiency  Services Limited  (EESL),  has  undertaken  awareness  and  capacity  building  activities  on  promoting energy  efficiency  and  reduction  of  refrigerant  usage  in  the  air-conditioning  equipment. Training of 17000 RAC service technicians has been undertaken as part of implementation of Hydro  chlorofluorocarbons  phase  out  Management  Plan  under  the  Montreal  Protocol  to promote good service practices to control leakage, thereby reducing refrigerant consumption.
- (b) Up-skilling and certification of 1 lakh Refrigeration and Air-conditioning (RAC) service technicians  on  good  servicing  practices  and  knowledge  of  alternative  refrigerants  to  ozonedepleting  substances  is  under  implementation  under  the  national  skill  qualification  framework (NSQF)  of  the  Pradhan  Mantri  Kaushal  Vikas  Yojana  (PMKVY)  of  the  Ministry  of  Skill Development  and  Entrepreneurship  (MSDE).  As  on  30  June  2021,  58,352  RAC  service technicians have been enrolled, out of which 58,097 RAC service technicians have been trained and finally 43,450 RAC service technicians have been certified.
- (d) The measures taken by the Government to improve cold chain infrastructure and doubling farmers income are as under:
- (i) The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) provides subsidy for the development of high-quality infrastructure such as Mega Food Park with world-class facilities and modern storage facilities, cold chain, testing laboratories etc.
- (ii) The  BEE  has  completed  a  study  to  analyse  the  energy  efficiency  potential  for  promoting energy efficiency in cold chain, with focus on pack-houses.

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