“Clean air is a matter of concern in large cities, propose to encourage states to formulate and implement plans to ensure clean air,” said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the presentation of the annual Union Budget for the year 2020-21 in Parliament, on Saturday, 1 February.
The FM further added that the government has allocated a budget of Rs 4,400 crore for the same. This will focus on cities with population of over 1 million.
The Centre has further proposed an outlay of Rs 22,000 crore for power and renewable energy sector for 2020-21.
In what is her second Budget presentation, the finance minister said the Centre has proposed that discoms should replace conventional meters with smart pre-paid meters and give option to consumers to choose electricity suppliers.
State governments need to replace conventional electricity meters with pre-paid smart meters in three years, she said.
She also said natural gas pipeline grid will be expanded to 27,000 km from over 16,000 km now and further reforms for transparent price discovery for natural gas will be undertaken.
Talking about India’s commitment towards tackling climate change made at the Paris Conference, Sitharaman said that the process had started from 1 January.
She also said that power plants with emissions over prescribed limits will be asked to shut down.
(WIth inputs from ANI and PTI)
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