Budget 2024: Finance Minister talks about 'Panchamrit' goals; here's what it means

During the presentation of the interim Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned the government's commitment to the 'Panchamrit' goals and outlined measures to achieve sustainable and resource-efficient economic growth.

She emphasised the importance of energy security in terms of availability, accessibility, and affordability. To meet the commitment of 'net zero' by 2070, several measures were announced, including viability gap funding for harnessing offshore wind energy, setting up coal gasification and liquefaction capacity, phased mandatory blending of compressed biogas, and providing financial assistance for biomass aggregation machinery.

What are the Panchamrit goals?

The 'Panchamrit' goals were initially announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the COP26 climate summit in 2021. The five-point agenda includes increasing non-fossil fuel energy capacity, meeting 50 per cent of energy requirements through renewable energy, reducing total carbon emissions, lowering the carbon intensity of the economy, and achieving net-zero emissions by 2070. The government aims to align with these goals for sustainable environmental practices.

Sitharaman in her budget speech also announced measures for India's ‘net-zero’ commitment by 2070, such as providing gap funding for harnessing offshore wind energy potential for an initial capacity of one gigawatt, setting up coal gasification and liquefaction capacity of 100 MT by 2030, phased mandatory blending of compressed biogas (CBG) with compressed natural gas (CNG) for transport, and providing financial assistance for the procurement of biomass aggregation machinery to support collection and expanding the e-vehicle ecosystem.