India, World Bank to work on lowering air-conditioner prices

 New Delhi: The government on Monday said that the Centre and the World Bank would work on a ‘comprehensive’ project and expects significant investments to promote manufacturing and availability of affordable cooling devices in the domestic market. However, the objective of the proposed project would be to cater to both the demand and supply side of the sector, a top official said on Monday.

Announcing the project in an event here, secretary in the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) Rajesh Kumar Singh said that the project would also cover areas such as capacity building, introducing or disseminating better technologies for supper efficient air-conditioners. With the project, the demand for these products is going to increase multi-fold in the country in the coming years on account of the increasing intensity and frequency of severe heat waves in India.

“We will upload the detailed project report or DPR very soon for a project with the World Bank, with significant investments both from the World Bank side as confessional lending and an equal amount from the Government of India,” Singh said here at a workshop on alleviating heat stress by enhancing production of affordable cooling devices here, asking that the industry to give feedback on the kinds of interventions required, both from the demand and supply side, for the sector.

“We are about to start work on a project which will hopefully come with some of those supply and demand side measures. In bringing about tangible investments and interventions in this area, not only in the private sector manufacturing but also in areas like R&D, capacity building etc. This will be a comprehensive project that we will start working on,” Singh said, adding that the super-efficient ACs are 30-40 per cent better than the 5-star ACs available in the market.

Heat waves are going to be a big problem for the world and there is a need to start addressing it right away, Singh said adding AC penetration in India is 5 percent and going forward if it reaches the global average of 30-per cent, the demand for cooling devices will explode. “Because of that, the global warming issue will be there. The carbon footprint will increase. So we need to work in this area with the ministries of environment, science and technology, and the World Bank-like institutions so that we can have at least cutting edge, super-efficient, cooling technologies,” he said.