PSUs Going Green

Intense competition is forcing Indian PSUs to look at measures to cut costs, reduce energy wastages, improve operational efficiencies. Environment-friendly measures help achieve these objectives and improve both margins and goodwill.

Many Public Sector companies have already experienced how going green can be good for business. Leading oil PSUs like Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are together expected to invest $2 billion this year in upgrading existing refineries and setting up new ones to keep pace with global norms of cleaner-quality fuels. GAIL’s prospects brighten as India moves toward clean energy.

Gujarat State PSUs such as GACL, GNFC, GSFC, GMDC and GSPC are generating wind power and making efforts to ensure 50% of Gujarat power come from green technologies. Gujarat, with an installed wind energy capacity of over 1,500 MW, is already second only to Tamil Nadu.

Indian Public Sector has joined the race to acquire new technologies, adopt energy saving processes, or work to achieve the objective of an emission-free world. Using new green technologies, the state-owned Rashtriya Chemical & Fertilisers (RCF) has reduced its power consumption by 60 per cent in the past decade. Better energy efficiency is among the top priorities of PSUs especially in energy-incentive sectors like steel, cement, paper and fertiliser, where the electricity bill is 20-40 percent of production costs.

Tapping into the carbon market
In its pursuit towards sustainable management, ONGC has registered its five Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These projects will fetch an estimated annual Certified Emission Reduction (CER) points of 0.124 million or equal to an annual earnings of $1.24 million of green revenue, @ $10 per CER point. It has also set up “The Energy Centre” for carrying out research in alternate and renewable energy sources. On "a pilot basis", it commissioned the 50 MW wind farm was and has plans to foray into solar and geothermal energy. ONGC has also gone for green buildings that would result in 30-50% reduction in power and water usage.

Railways are cutting carbon footprint by going for CDM projects, energy from renewable sources such as solar power and biomass, use of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and other measures to improve energy efficiency.

Investments in sound environment practices help PSUs in boosting both the corporate image and the bottom lines. It is the “win win situation” associated with the green technology. You save energy and hence improve bottom line, you save the environment and you earn Carbon credit. The community at large reaps the benefits. Thus, both legal requirements and economic gains are driving the shifts.

References:
1.    http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/ongc-examining-wind-energy-f...
2.    http://www.ongcindia.com/Download/green.htm
3.    http://www.financialexpress.com/news/gails-prospects-brighten-as-india-m...
4.    http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_railways-cutting-carbon-footprint_1...
5.    http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_50pct-of-gujarat-power-will-come-fr...