Context: The State Energy Efficiency Index has been recently released by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE).
Key highlights

• 27 States and UTs improved their scores compared to SEEI 2019.
• Out of these, seven States — Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu — improved by more than 10 points.

State Energy Efficiency Index

• The index categorized States into four based on the score.
• Those with above 60 points are ‘front-runners’, states with 50-60 points are ‘achievers’, 30-49.5 points are ‘contenders’ and less than 30 points would get ‘aspirant’ status.
• The performance has been measured through 68 indicators across six sectors: buildings, industry, municipalities, transport, agriculture and distribution companies (Discoms), and cross sector initiatives.

Objectives

• Help drive Energy Efficiency (EE) policies at the state and local level.
• Highlight best practices and encourage healthy competition among states.
• Track progress in managing the states’ and India’s energy footprint.
• Set a baseline for EE efforts and provide a foundation to set state specific EE targets.
• Institutionalize data capture and monitoring of EE activities by states.