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El Niño conditions developed in May 2026 and are likely to persist from June 2026 to February 2027, the Lok Sabha was told.
Data centre capacity in India has grown from 375 megawatts in 2020 to about 1,575 megawatts at present, amid rising demand from artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
Deendayal Port, V O Chidambaranar Port and Paradip Port have been recognised as green hydrogen hubs under the National Green Hydrogen Mission.
A total of 70,495 commercial vehicles and 3,96,486 passenger vehicles had been scrapped at registered vehicle scrapping facilities as of July 31, 2026, the Rajya Sabha was told.
El Niño conditions developed during May 2026 and are likely to persist from June 2026 to February 2027, with forecast probabilities ranging from 70 to 90 per cent, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Jitendra Singh told the Lok Sabha.
The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, has developed an indigenous Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning-based El Niño Southern Oscillation prediction system that provides probabilistic forecasts along with uncertainty estimates.
The forecast is based on the latest ocean observations, the INCOIS Global Ocean Data Assimilation System and the indigenous Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning-based prediction system.
The government has taken cognisance of reports regarding the misuse of certain Battery Management System mobile applications that enabled unauthorised remote control of e-rickshaw batteries, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada told the Lok Sabha.
Prasada said the government issued orders on July 3, 2026, for the removal of such applications from app stores under the relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Data centre capacity in India has grown from 375 megawatts in 2020 to about 1,575 megawatts at present, Prasada told the Lok Sabha.
Under the IndiaAI Mission, the government is building a sovereign artificial intelligence stack covering compute capacity, foundational models and indigenous applications.
Data centres are an important part of the Digital India infrastructure ecosystem. The rapid growth of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing is driving demand for additional data centre capacity in the country.
Prasada said cooling technologies are also moving towards advanced systems such as direct-to-chip liquid cooling, adiabatic cooling, immersion cooling and closed-loop liquid cooling systems. The industry is also deploying high-density racks to support high-performance computing and artificial intelligence workloads more efficiently, helping reduce power and water consumption.
These initiatives provide a framework for electricity consumption and energy efficiency, renewable energy use, energy reuse, cooling efficiency, carbon emissions and water usage, he said.
Deendayal Port in Kandla, Gujarat; V O Chidambaranar Port in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu; and Paradip Port in Odisha have been recognised as green hydrogen hubs under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, Union Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy and Power Shripad Yesso Naik told the Lok Sabha.
The Government of India is implementing the National Green Hydrogen Mission with the objective of making India a global hub for the production, use and export of green hydrogen and its derivatives.
Naik said the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has endorsed a proposal by NTPC to set up a green hydrogen hub at Pudimadaka in Andhra Pradesh.
The northern part of Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR Island in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, has experienced coastal erosion over the past two decades and lost about 0.68 square kilometres of beach area between 1965 and 2018, Singh told the Lok Sabha.
The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, through the National Centre for Coastal Research, assessed the extent of coastal erosion affecting the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, which comes under the Department of Space.
Singh said the National Centre for Coastal Research carried out a detailed shoreline-change analysis using multi-temporal satellite imagery, supported by field investigations and numerical modelling studies.
Based on scientific investigations, the centre recommended shoreline protection measures comprising longitudinal and transitional groynes and prepared a detailed project report for the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR.
There is currently no proposal to make rooftop solar installation mandatory in all government institutions, Naik told the Lok Sabha.
The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had requested all Union government ministries and departments to issue necessary directions to departments, offices and institutions to use vacant rooftops of their buildings for the installation of solar panels.
All states and Union Territories have also been requested to issue necessary directions for the installation of rooftop solar systems on buildings owned by them.
Naik said the Union Territories of Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, and Ladakh have reported saturation in the solarisation of government buildings with rooftop solar systems.
The MNRE has received action plans from the respective ministries for the solarisation of 41,972 Union government buildings. Of these, 24,376 buildings have been solarised, with cumulative installed capacity of about 854 megawatts as of July 16, 2026.
The National Highways Authority of India promotes the planting of native tree species suited to the agro-climatic zone while developing green belts along national highways, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Jairam Gadkari told the Rajya Sabha.
The government has issued the Green Highways (Plantation, Transplantation, Beautification and Maintenance) Policy, 2015, to develop eco-friendly national highways in the country.
The development of green belts along national highways is carried out in accordance with Indian Roads Congress SP-21:2009 guidelines and the standard operating procedure developed to implement the Green Highways Policy, 2015.
Gadkari said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is also promoting bee corridors and Aarogya Vans as part of avenue and median plantation work to address biodiversity concerns.
A total of 70,495 commercial vehicles and 3,96,486 passenger vehicles had been scrapped at registered vehicle scrapping facilities as of July 31, 2026, Gadkari told the Rajya Sabha.
The government has developed a dedicated portal to capture details of vehicles on which discounts have been provided by original equipment manufacturers. As of July 27, 2026, a total of 1,39,850 vehicles had availed of discounts provided by original equipment manufacturers.
Under the Voluntary Vehicle Fleet Modernisation Programme, a network of registered vehicle scrapping facilities is being established for environment-friendly vehicle scrapping and disposal.
Gadkari said 153 registered vehicle scrapping facilities were operational in 23 states and Union Territories as of July 31, 2026.
