The Indian Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME sector) plays a vital role in the Indian economy, it is also known as backbone of country’s growth and is a major energy guzzler due to high use of fuel. It is estimated that the energy consumption in manufacturing process is a significant share of MSMEs overall production cost, with the share of energy cost being as high as 35-40% of total manufacturing cost at times. With the use of obsolete technologies and poor operating practices, MSMEs have a significant potential for energy saving through technology upgradation and adoption of best-operating practices.

It is estimated that the adoption of energy efficiency measures may support reducing the overall production cost by 2-5%. However, the MSME sector in India still faces a low adoption rate of energy efficient technologies, primarily due to low awareness & technical know-how, barriers for investments and non-willing-to-change due to absence in proof-of-concept (POC) of technology & business model.

During 2018-2022, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a JV of Ministry of Power, Government of India had implemented a program targeting 10 MSME clusters for demonstrating EE technologies and Business models with the support from Global Environmental Facility. Although the technology demonstration was successful, but the program faced several challenges for scale up given the absence of structured approach for awareness creation, Demand aggregation, Investment facilitated by ESCOs and operationalization of Energy Efficiency Revolving Fund (EERF).

To mitigate this, GGGI with EESL in 2022 aimed to enhance the ESCO market scalability and establish a National Framework for the implementation of SEET in MSMEs clusters through Proof-of-Concept. This led to the identification of 7 EE technologies for implementation across 3 key clusters: 1) Rice Mill Cluster in Karnal, 2) Textile Cluster in Panipat, and 3) Mixed Cluster in Kundli.

The SEET Project is the first of its kind in India to involve private ESCOs through a demand aggregation approach, in collaboration with EESL.

The project aims to

• Create a true market transformation of Energy efficiency in MSME Sector by technology deployment.
• Develop sustainable ecosystem for all the relevant stakeholders primarily ESCOs, MSME, Industry association, Financial Institution, Govt Institution, Technology Providers, Energy auditors.
• Establish a National Framework for Implementation (NFFI) of Standard Energy Efficiency Solutions in MSMEs through Proof-of-Concept leading to accelerated investments and use of Energy Efficiency Revolving Fund (EERF)

Brochure

View SEET Brochure 

Report

Read GGGI’s Latest Report on Investment through ESCO Mechanism in MSME Clusters by Deploying SEET