The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated a Bio-Solar-Wind Microgrid Centre and Centre for Water and Environment Research at Indian Institute of Engineering Science & Technology (IIEST), Shibpur, West Bengal today (May 19, 2017).

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that he was happy to inaugurate these initiatives of IIEST. IIEST is a historic institution and amongst the first few higher learning centres to be established in the country. Since its existence, this premier institution has been imparting high quality education in the field of civil and mechanical engineering.

The President said that the facilities inaugurated today - Integrated Bio-Solar-Wind Micro-grid centre and Centre for Water and Environment Research, are crucial from the perspective of socio-economic development. Centres such as these are the need of the hour, with resource sustainability and environmental protection having become pressing global issues.

The President said that in present-day circumstances, energy availability has become uncertain with augmentation in power generation capacity unable to meet the rising demand for power of various consuming centres such as industry, household, etc. A micro-management of power system using renewable energy sources will lead to self-sufficiency in high consuming destinations like institutions and industry. The integrated Bio-Solar-Wind micro-grid centre of IIEST is one cog in the wheel of sustainable development. We must ensure that electricity is available for ordinary people and potable water is provided for consumption of both humans and animals. For this our knowledge and expertise has to be implemented in finding practical solutions to problems in our day to day life. In this context, he appreciated the innovations displayed by large number of grassroot innovators during the annual Festival of Innovations at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The President said that a large population of this country has no access to any form of electricity. However, we must ensure that we do not harm the environment to meet our energy requirements. India is a signatory to the Paris Agreement and we are committed to have a specific rate of reduction in carbon emission over the years. We must emphasize on renewable energy to ensure sustainable development. We as a nation have to work more intensely towards developing solutions for such important global challenges, which have wide import for a developing country with large population like ours.

The President said that access to water in the 21stCentury is a challenge. Potable water is not available to a large population in many villages in India. The demand for safe potable water is increasing rapidly with the exponential growth in population. This problem needs to be addressed.

This release issued 1535 hrs.