Twenty cities met National Ambient Air Quality Standards for PM10 in 2021-22 compared to 4 in 2017-18
As many as 95 cities in India have managed to reduce annual PM10 concentrations in 2021-22 compared to 2017-18, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Union minister of state for environment, forest and climate change told the Rajya Sabha December 8, 2022.
Under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), 131 cities were given annual targets for reducing PM10 concentrations.
As many as 20 cities have met the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for PM10 (60 micrograms per cubic metre) in 2021-22 compared to four cities in 2017-18, the minister added.
The share of electricity generated from renewable energy sources in India is set to increase to 40.9 per cent in 2029-30 from 22.1 per cent in 2021-22, RK Singh, Union minister for new and renewable energy and power told the Lok Sabha December 8, 2022.
The minister was citing findings from the studies carried out by the Central Electricity Authority for 2029-30.
A total of 172.72 gigawatts capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources has been installed in the country as on October 31, 2022. This includes 119.09 GW renewable energy, 46.85 GW large hydropower capacity and 6.78 GW nuclear power capacity.
This has a share of 42.26 per cent of total installed generation capacity in the country (408.71 GW as on October 31, 2022), Singh told the Lok Sabha.
The quantity of e-waste generated in India during 2020-21 was 1,346,496.31 tonnes, Chaubey told the Rajya Sabha. He was citing data gathered by the Central Pollution Control Board.
There are 474 dismantling / recycling units in the country with processing capacity of 1,442,561.22 tonnes per year, which shows sufficient infrastructure is available to manage e-waste, he added.
Around 117 proposals, including six from Telangana related to the environmental clearance (EC) are at various stages of consideration, according to the provisions of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006, Chaubey said at the Rajya Sabha.
State-wise number of such proposals is annexed. As per the provisions of EIA notification 2006, the prescribed time line for grant of EC is 105 days from the date of submission of complete proposal.
Due to measures / initiatives taken by the Ministry, the average time in grant of EC has reduced to 75 days in the year 2021 and 64 days in the current year, the minister added.
As much as 3.5 million tonnes per annum (TPA) of plastic waste was generated during 2019-20 in India, of which 1.6 million TPA was recycled, Kumart said. Around 167,000 TPA was co-processed in cement kilns, he told the Rajya Sabha.
From 2002-2016, the groundwater level has risen in 3,800 wells and declined in 3,397 of the total 7,233 wells across India monitored by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), Bishweswar Tudu, Union minister of state for Jal Shakti (water resources) told the Lok Sabha.
No change was observed in the groundwater levels of 36 wells (0.5 per cent) during the period, the minister shared.
As many as six plants with BioCNG generation capacity of 29,520 kilogram per day and 12 with electricity generation capacity of 164.14 megawatts from the municipal solid waste are operational as on November 30, 2022, RK Singh mentioned in the Lok Sabha.
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