Visakhapatnam, Sept 6 (KNN) The Andhra Pradesh government has requested the Union ministry of power to extend the financial assistance as grants to take up energy efficiency measures on a large scale in MSME clusters in the state.

In this regard, the Chief secretary Adityanath Das has written a letter to the ministry, highlighting the steps being taken by the state to fulfil India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) goals that help achieve high economic growth with lower per capita emissions.

''The state government wants to lay a balanced emphasis on economic development and environment, besides promoting cost effective energy efficiency measures in the industrial sector, which is energy intensive and also has high carbon emissions. The state is determined to promote cost-effective energy efficiency measures in the industrial sector where electricity consumption and carbon emission are high,” Adityanath Das said in the letter.

Reportedly, the Andhra Pradesh State Energy Conservation Mission (APSECM) has conducted a detailed audit clusters of fisheries in Bhimavaram, foundry units in Vijayawada and refractory units in East Godavari district as a pilot project with the financial support from Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). It has been identified that the MSME sector holds immense potential in fostering energy efficiency and upgradation of technologies.

The state government has decided to implement energy efficiency in fisheries, refractory and foundry clusters across the state in the first phase and requested financial assistance from the Union ministry of power through BEE.