India has become the first country in the world to develop a draft blueprint outlining action plan to bring down cooling requirement and refrigerant demands across sectors by 20 per cent to 25 per cent by 2037-38 while slashing cooling energy requirements by 25 per cent to 40 per cent within the same period, said Union Environment Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on World Ozone Day on Monday.

On the occasion at an event, he released the draft India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) and a booklet on 'Montreal Protocol — India's Success Story'

Stressing upon the need to strengthen active collaboration between the Government, industries, industry associations and all stakeholders, he said that the World Ozone Day offers an opportunity to focus global attention and action on the vital environmental issue of protection of the Ozone Layer. 

He said that the Ministry has already undertaken an initiative for upskilling of 1,00,000 refrigeration and Air-Conditioning servicing technicians in collaboration with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) — Skill India Mission.

Environment Secretary CK Mishra said that along with energy efficiency, it is critical to identify the usage of gases and not merely replacement of gases. "There are alternative ways to cooling that should be looked at.  Another issue is an army of trained manpower to handle manufacturing and maintenance", he said. He also pointed out to the criticality of the need for finances and expanding research & development (R&D).

India is the first country in the world to develop such a document (ICAP), which addresses cooling requirement across sectors and lists out actions which can help reduce the cooling demand.                PTI