Lok Sabha Question No. 448 (STARRED), answered on 2022-04-04
Subject: Private Sector in Adaptation Technologies
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Thalikkottai Rajuthevar Baalu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 448

TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.04.2022

## Private Sector in Adaptation Technologies

## *448.   SHRI T.R. BAALU:

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

- (a) whether the Government has taken any initiatives to encourage private sector participation for investment in adaptation technologies and for designing and implementing  innovative  climate  services  and  solutions  in  areas  such  as  agriculture, health, infrastructure, insurance and risk management;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI BHUPENDER YADAV)

- (a) to (c) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (c)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  448 BY  SHRI T.R. BAALU  'PRIVATE  SECTOR  IN ADAPTATION TECHNOLOGIES' DUE FOR REPLY ON 04.04.2022

The Government has taken various initiatives as it seeks to encourage  participation of private sector enterprises in India's climate action.

India's  Nationally  Determined  Contributions  (NDCs)  submitted  under  the  Paris  Agreement  in 2015  envision, inter-alia ,to  better  adapt  to  climate  change  by  enhancing  investments  in development programmes in sectors vulnerable to climate change, particularly agriculture, water resources, Himalayan region, coastal regions, health and disaster management.

The National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC), the overarching policy framework for climate  action,  is  guided  by  the  principle  of  effective  implementation  of  programmes  through public private-partnership and unique linkages including with civil society and local government institutions.  In  line  with  NAPCC,  33  States  and  Union  Territories  have  prepared  their  state specific action plans for climate change. Under these plans, some  of the States and UnionTerritories  have  recognized, inter-alia ,  the  importance  of  private  sector  engagement  in climate action.

The Union Budget 2022-23 has highlighted climate action as one of the priority areas along with inclusive development, energy transition and financing of investments, etc. In this context, the budget has provisioned a range of reforms and programmes in multiple sectors, including priority areas  such  as  health,  agriculture,  manufacturing,  and  education.  These  include  an  increased allocation  for  Production  Linked  Incentive  (PLI)  scheme  for  the domestic  manufacturing  of solarmodules;  co -firing  of  5-7%  biomass  pellets in  thermal  power  plants;development  of sustainable  and  innovative  business  models  by  the  private  sector  for  'Battery  or  Energy  as  a service,  the  Energy  Service  Company  (ESCO)  business  model  for  saving  energy  in  large commercial  buildings;sovereign  green  bonds  to  raise  funds  for  environmentally  andclimatefriendly infrastructure;the co-investment model for raising blended capital to finance startups for agriculture & rural enterprise relevant for farm produce value chain; rolling out an open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem for universal health access and 'National Tele Mental Health Programme,' etc.

To  meet  the  challenges  of  climate  change,  Indian  Council  of  Agricultural  Research  (ICAR), Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Farmers  Welfare,  Government  of  India  has  launched  a  flagship network project 'National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture' (NICRA). The project is being  implemented  through  different  components  viz.,  strategic  research  on  adaptation  and mitigation, demonstration of technologies on farmers' fields in 151 clusters of villages one each from climatically vulnerable districts and creating awareness among  farmers  and other stakeholders to minimize the climatic change impacts on agriculture. The project aims to develop and promote climate resilient technologies that help the districts and regions prone to extreme weather conditions like droughts, floods, frost, heat waves, etc., to cope with such extremes.

Pradhan  Mantri  Fasal  BimaYojana  (PMFBY)  is  being  implemented  toprovide  insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in theevent of failure of any of the notified crop as a result of natural calamities,pests & diseases.The Scheme is implemented through selectedinsurance companies under the overall guidance & control of the Ministry of Agriculture &Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) and States/UTs in co-ordination with various other agencies.

The  Government  is  also  implementing  'Pradhan  Mantri  Kisan  Urja  Syrakshevm  Utthan Mahabhiyan' (PM-KUSUM) to provide energy and water security, de-dieselise the farm sector and also to provide option of producing solar power.

India has launched Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), which is a partnership of  National  governments,  UN  agencies  and  programmes,  multilateral  development  banks  and financing mechanisms, the private sector, and knowledge institutions that aims to promote the resilience of new and existing infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks in support of sustainable development. The Government supported Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure  (CDRI)  is  facilitating  exchange  of  innovative  practices  and  technologies  on resilience of infrastructure systems between the private sector and the public sector. This is being done through online platforms.  The Coalition is actively engaged with ARISE Network (United Nations  Office  for  Disaster  Risk  Reduction(UNDRR)  network  of  over  300  members),  the Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment (private sector led initiative with over 120 members), and InsuResilience Global Partnership among others.

The  National  Infrastructure  Pipeline  (NIP)  for  FY  2019-25  is  a  first-of-its-kind,  whole-of government exercise to provide world-class infrastructure to citizens and improving their quality of  life.  It  aims  to  improve  project  preparation  and  attract  investments  into  infrastructure  by forging  partnerships  with  the  private  sector  through  effective  models  for  co-working  between public  and  private  sectors.  The  NIP  provides  opportunities  in  transport,  logistics,  energy, communication and social / commercial infrastructuresectors.

Addressing climate issues is one of the major priorities of the Governmentand several steps have been taken in this direction.

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