/dqweek/media/agency_attachments/JNb31gQnqJvAm0jqPxaV.png)
Follow Us
For the first time in
India, the Ministry of Power (MoP) has taken a serious note of energy
efficiency of IT products. With a voluntary program for notebooks at
an initial stage, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) under the
ministry, is expected to enroll desktop PCs and other office
equipment, soon.
The industry projected the
sales for desktop and laptop computers to be around 12 mn in 2011. On
the flip side, there is a huge challenge to meet the growing power
requirements in the country. With 1,60,000 MW energy available
currently, the requirement is expected to grow five-fold in the next
20 years. In 2032, energy requirement would be around 9,60,000 MW.
Even after more than six decades of independence, a large number of
households and villages are still in the dark, with more than 30%
power loss in the country.
P Uma Shankar, secretary,
MoP said that as part of National Mission on Energy Efficiency,
Star
Rating program for laptops is an extension of Government of
India's initiative which started in 2005. “The lower star category
items will not sell. This program conveys to the consumers that they
have to look at something other than just advertisements,” said
Shankar. Since, 0.5% of energy is consumed by laptops alone, the
Ministry is mooting similar Star Rating programs for other IT
products. “MoP in association with the IT ministry is working
closely to check power loss, and deploying IT-based systems in 1,400
towns for the same,” added Shankar.
Ajay Mathur, director
general, BEE said that both the industry and government have a common
goal to move ahead. “To manage desktop PCs is not easy as there is
a large unorganized sector involved, but it will follow the race
soon,” pointed out Mathur.
BEE said that by 2014,
vendors must achieve certain number of energy levels. “Defaulters
will be hugely penalized. The penalty could be Rs 10,000 per day, and
we are contemplating to raise up to Rs 1 lakh a day in order to
compel vendors to move onto energy-efficient levels,” concluded
Shankar.
Meanwhile, the IT hardware
body MAIT, together with the MoP, has also taken ecosystem-wide green
initiatives to reduce carbon footprint in the IT industry.