Page 141 - CW E-Magazine (2-1-2024)

Top Stories

AIDING GROWTH
Govt. assures Rs. 200-crore boost for medicinal plant

sector in North-East

The Union Minister of Ports, Ship- said, “Nature has blessed Northeast for capacity building at CSIR-NEIST,
ping & Waterways and Ayush, Mr. Sarb- with rich fl ora and fauna. This bounty multiple cold storages will be set up for
ananda Sonowal, during his recent visit of nature must be used responsibly so storage of herbal plants for commercial
to the CSIR-North East Institute of Sci- that the ecology of the region is sus- usage. An approximate investment of
ence & Technology (CSIR-NEIST) in tained, while the medicinal benefi ts Rs. 100-crore is set to develop these
Jorhat (Assam) assured an approximate from the herbs can be extracted respon- specialised cold storages for medicinal
investment of Rs. 200-crore to build sibly to ramp up India’s rich heritage in herbal plants. A Centre of Excellence in
capacity in the medicinal plant sector traditional medicine. Medicinal Herbs and Aromatic Plants is
of the region. also proposed to be set up, which will
As India leads the resurgence of tra- act as a lynchpin of R&D in medicinal
The amount is aimed at creating ditional medicine globally, the North- plants from the region.
infrastructure that will strengthen east, with its rich resource of medicinal
the facilities for storage of medicinal plants and herbs, will play a crucial role The Centre is proposed to be deve-
plants for commercial purpose, and to act as harbinger of growth for the loped with an outlay of Rs. 35-crore. In
boost research and development of healing industry of India.” During this order to explore possibilities from the
local herbs and plants for medicinal visit, the Minister reviewed the progress folk medicine, with scientifi cally valida-
purpose. It will also provide a platform of different activities undertaken by the ted outcome, for treatment of ailments, a
for traditional healers to further their institute to strengthen the huge poten- hospital for traditional folk healers is also
treatments to a wider section of society. tial of the medicinal plants market in proposed. The cost for development of
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister the region. Of the proposed investment this hospital is pegged at Rs. 50-crore.

FORECAST
India’s renewable energy capacity expected to grow

33% to 20-GW in FY24

India’s renewable energy (RE) ICRA VP and Sector Head, Cor- acquisition and transmission connec-
capacity addition is expected to grow porate Ratings, Mr. Vikram V, said, tivity, which could hamper capacity
by more than 33% Y-o-Y to 20 giga- “The sharp decline in solar PV cell addition prospects, he added.
watts (GW) in FY24, aided by a reduc- and module prices, abeyance of the
tion in prices of solar photovoltaic (PV) Approved List of Models & Manufac- Rising share in generation
cells and modules, in abeyance of the turers (ALMM) order till March 2024, The rise in RE capacity over the
ALMM order, among other factors. and the timeline extension approved for next six years is estimated to increase
solar and hybrid projects, is expected to the share of RE-plus large hydro in all-
Ratings agency ICRA expects India’s lead to an improvement in RE capacity India electricity generation from 23%
installed RE capacity to increase to addition to 20-GW in FY2024 from in FY23 to around 40% in FY30, ICRA
about 170-GW by March 2025, from 15-GW in FY2023.” said. Given the intermittency associated
132-GW as of October 2023. Capacity with RE generation, the availability of
addition thereafter is likely to be sup- This, along with the growing pro- Round-The-Clock (RTC) supply from
ported by a signifi cant improvement in ject pipeline, is likely to support the RE sources remains important. This
tendering activity in FY24, with over scale-up in capacity addition to 25-GW can be made possible through the use of
16-GW of projects bid so far, and bids in FY2025, driven mainly by the solar wind and solar power projects, comple-
for another 17-GW underway by the power segment. However, challenges mented with energy storage systems, it
Central nodal agencies. remain with respect to delays in land added.

Chemical Weekly January 2, 2024 141

Contents Index to Advertisers Index to Products Advertised