Coal cess to the tune of Rs163.88 billion (about $2.57 billion) was collected into National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) till 2014-15. Of this, the NCEF garnered Rs 89.16 billion (about $1.39 billion) in 2014-15 alone.
And in 2015-16, NCEF is likely to aggregate Rs131.18 billion (about $2.05 billion) in coal cess, according to a written reply Piyush Goyal, minister of state (IC) for power, coal and new and renewable energy gave the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
NCEF helps fund research and innovative projects in clean energy technologies. Currently 30 out of 44 projects recommended for NCEF support are awaiting allocation under NCEF the reply says.
Ajith Kumar S