After the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has identified enormous energy savings potential in refractories as part of a pilot project in the East Godavari district, it will conduct an energy audit and technology assessment in spinning mills, cold stores and Dal processing units in the state and use energy-efficient (RE) technologies in selected MSME clusters at the request of the AP-State Energy Conservation Mission (AP-SECM).
According to an official publication, a study by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) of 26 refractory units in the East Godavari district found that there was scope for saving 10% (8.3 million units) of the energy they used per year of a financial saving of 5.56 billion on current tariffs. Their refractory production is 62,500 tons per year.
The pilot project is part of the national BEE program for mapping energy-intensive micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) that was entrusted to TERI.
In a webinar on BEE’s EE actions on Sunday, Director Milind Deore said the results of the TERI study were promising and similar projects could be initiated in other MSME sub-sectors.
He found that MSMEs account for 33% of national manufacturing output and around 28% of total GDP.
State Energy Secretary N. Srikant said MSMEs have been hit hard due to COVID-19 and RE measures will provide them much-needed relief.
ReSTART package
Special Chief Secretary (Industry and Trade) R. Karikal Valaven said the government had given industry a big boost in the form of a ReSTART package, which includes around 90,000 MSMEs, $ 1,110 billion in grants and certain operational restrictions.
Participants included the other Industry Advisor to the Government of India (MSME) D. Chandra Sekhar, BEE Deputy Director P. Shyam Sundar and TERI officials N. Vasudevan and Pawan Kumar Tiwari.