Inter-ministerial committee proposes formation of ‘Green Energy Transition India Fund’

The committee on the 'just transition from coal' has proposed a dedicated coal mine closure policy and a three-tiered structure to oversee its implementation.

In a report, the committee suggested the resources for such fund such as international sources (climate finance), issuance of bonds, special levies or cesses, fines collected from polluters, existing resources such as clean energy cess and so on.

“A well-defined mechanism for utilisation of such funds should also be developed to ensure accountability of funds usage,” the committee added.

The phrase Just Transition came to prominence after its inclusion in climate declarations made during UN Climate Change Conference (COP 21) held in Paris in 2015.

It was emphasised that the transition from a carbon-intensive energy source to low-carbon energy source should not be harsh on the people dependent on that source.

It is expected that such people should be compensated for the impact of transition and/or re-trained and re-employed in some other low-carbon economic activities.

The 14-member committee is headed by BP Pati who is the joint secretary of the Ministry of Coal.

It was created last year under the India-US sustainable growth pillar of the strategic clean energy partnership.

According to the committee, the government should come up with a just transition policy for handling closure of coal mines

The three-tiered structure will be responsible for the operationalisation of the proposed just transition policy.

The task force should develop a redevelopment and repurposing plan for each coal asset closure, it said, and that the closures should be as per the laid down policies.

On Wednesday, Union Minister of Coal, Mines Pralhad Joshi chaired a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Coal today in Indore, Madhya Pradesh to discuss an emerging issue related to the coal sector on Coal Mine Closure - Achieving Just Transition for All.

The Coal Minister informed the committee members that there is a global thrust on energy transition away from coal.

However, for India, coal being an affordable source of energy, holds prime importance for meeting its energy needs being fuelled by rising economy.

Coal accounts for more than 51% of the country's primary energy requirement and around 73% of power generation.

Also, coal is one of the important ingredients in the production of steel, sponge iron, aluminium, cement, paper, bricks etc.

Coal demand in the country is yet to peak and will continue to play an important role in the energy mix till 2040 and beyond. Thus, no transition away from coal is happening in foreseeable future in India, the minister maintained.

During the meeting, a presentation was made by Joint Secretary to the Ministry of Coal BP Pati gave a presentation highlighting that although there are no immediate challenges of coal phase-down, the coal companies will have to manage the closure of already abandoned mines and coal mines that will close normally in near future - in a manner aligned to Just Transition principles.

The existing Mine closure guidelines are still evolving.

These guidelines primarily focus on physical and environmental aspects of mine closure and do not address properly social aspects of mine closure and repurposing of land and infrastructure assets.

Hence, there is a need for developing a uniform comprehensive sustainable mine closure framework on Just Transition principles along with the development of an appropriate institutional arrangement and funding mechanism covering every aspect of mine closure.

The members of the committee said that the framework will also facilitate capacity building for managing coal mine closures that may happen in long term due to change in India’s energy mix.

They suggested that public representatives should be consulted more frequently by coal companies on the issues like environment protection, coal mine closures, social welfare and productivity.