| | JULY 20188THOUGHT LEADERSHIPWhile India has set many milestones in its two-decade-long energy ef-ficiency journey, the last six years have seen the nation take a hard-won global leadership position in pursuit of this goal. Today, delivering the world's largest energy efficiency portfolio, India has two motives to imbue en-ergy efficiency into its economy. It is the most environmentally sus-tainable pathway to meet India's Paris commitment of reducing car-bon intensity by 33-35 percent by 2030 from 2005 level, while also significantly contributing to ener-gy security. Energy cost reduction, decarbonization & air pollution mitigation, energy security, and en-ergy access can all be enhanced by strong energy efficiency measures. Energy efficiency will also make the energy transition cheaper, fast-er and more scalable. With these benefits, it is a key component of energy development strategies across progressive economies.Towards this goal, important legislations such as the Energy Conservation Act 2001, and the Electricity Act 2003 created the policy framework for energy effi-ciency in industry, which consumes 40 percent of all energy generated. The National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE) out-lined the role of large energy-in-tensive industries in meeting energy efficiency goals, while mo-tivating them with market-based incentives to reduce energy use. Instead of being subjected to pu-nitive measures, industries which consumed less energy than bench-marks relative to their production received tradeable `Energy Saving Certificates,' or ESCerts. With the participation of 400 industries in the first phase of NMEE's scheme Perform, Achieve & Trade (PAT), India realized emission reduction of 31 million tones of CO2 between 2012-2015, translating to Rs.47,185 crore in energy savings. As PAT concluded its first phase in 2015, India initiated Unnat Jeevan by Affordable LEDs & Appliances for All (UJALA), its most innovative and far-reaching initiative. Today, INDIA'S ENERGY EFFICIENCY STORYBy Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director, EESLFounded in 2010, EESL is the world's largest energy service company by the Government of India to facilitate implementation of energy efficiency projects across the India.
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