India’s cumulative installed wind energy capacity stood at 57,443.39 megawatts as of June 30, 2026, the Lok Sabha was told.
Twelve pilot projects have been awarded under the National Green Hydrogen Mission for 70 hydrogen-powered vehicles and 16 hydrogen refuelling stations.
Tamil Nadu has an estimated onshore wind power potential of 95.1 gigawatts at 150-metre hub height, along with 31 gigawatts of offshore wind potential.
States reported 29,444 cattle deaths due to lumpy skin disease between 2023 and June 2026, the Rajya Sabha was told.
The environmental impact of coal mining is assessed before any project begins through an Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Plan as part of the statutory environmental clearance process, Union Minister of State for Coal and Mines Satish Chandra Dubey told the Lok Sabha.
In Assam, the Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Plan have been prepared for the ongoing Tikak Extension Opencast Project, with a capacity of 0.2 million tonnes per annum, and the upcoming Tirap Opencast Project, with a capacity of 0.6 million tonnes per annum. Both are projects of North Eastern Coalfields, a unit of Coal India Limited under the Ministry of Coal.
Regular monitoring of ambient air quality, water quality, including effluent, drinking and runoff water, and noise levels is carried out through government-approved laboratories to assess the environmental impact of mining operations.
At present, North Eastern Coalfields has only one operating mine, the Tikak Extension Opencast Project. The mine is operating in compliance with environmental norms and no penalty has been imposed on it for violation of environmental norms.
India’s cumulative installed wind energy capacity stood at 57,443.39 megawatts as of June 30, 2026, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Education Pralhad Joshi told the Lok Sabha.
During the last financial year, 2025-26, a record wind capacity of 6.05 gigawatts was installed. This was the highest annual wind capacity addition since the inception of the wind energy sector in the country.
Twelve pilot projects have been awarded under the National Green Hydrogen Mission for the deployment of 70 hydrogen-powered vehicles, Union Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy and Power Shripad Yesso Naik told the Lok Sabha.
The vehicles comprise 27 buses and 43 trucks, including fuel cell electric vehicles and hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles. The projects also include 16 hydrogen refuelling stations across 21 routes in different states.
The National Green Hydrogen Mission aims to make India a global hub for the production, use and export of green hydrogen and its derivatives. The total financial assistance allocated for the pilot projects is about Rs 410.77 crore, of which Rs 41.582 crore has been released.
Tamil Nadu has an estimated onshore wind power potential of 95.1 gigawatts at 150-metre hub height, Naik told the Lok Sabha.
The estimate is based on wind resource assessment carried out by the National Institute of Wind Energy. The government has also identified, through mesoscale studies, eight offshore wind zones off the Tamil Nadu coast with a potential capacity of 31 gigawatts.
As of June 30, 2026, Tamil Nadu had 12.27 gigawatts of installed wind energy capacity. Considering the replacement of wind turbines with individual capacities of up to 2 megawatts, the state has an estimated repowering potential of about 7.3 gigawatts.
The Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj has developed a thematic approach to localising Sustainable Development Goals through panchayats, Union Minister for Panchayati Raj Rajiv Ranjan Singh, also known as Lalan Singh, told the Rajya Sabha.
Under this approach, 17 Sustainable Development Goals have been grouped into nine themes to make them easier to understand at the grassroots level and support community-led development. The themes are: poverty-free and enhanced livelihoods in panchayats; healthy panchayats; child-friendly panchayats; water-sufficient panchayats; clean and green panchayats; panchayats with self-sufficient infrastructure; socially just and socially secured panchayats; panchayats with good governance; and women-friendly panchayats.
Each theme is mapped to nodal ministries and departments to support convergence and resource augmentation at the gram panchayat level. Panchayats prepare thematic Panchayat Development Plans for holistic development, with a focus on sustainable environment, women’s empowerment, gender equality and self-reliant panchayats.
During preparation of the Gram Panchayat Development Plan, panchayats are advised to take a sankalp on one or two themes to provide targeted interventions. In the plan year 2026-27, as of July 23, 2026, 30,629 gram panchayats had taken a sankalp under the clean and green panchayat theme, while 9,627 had done so under the women-friendly panchayat theme.
A total of 29,444 cattle deaths due to lumpy skin disease were reported by states between 2023 and June 2026, Singh told the Rajya Sabha. According to a scientific study published in March 2025, the projected economic losses due to lumpy skin disease in cattle during 2022 and 2023 were Rs 20,254.407 crore.