Focus: GS III: Indian Economy
Why in News?
Recently, the Ministry of Power and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy have jointly launched a National Mission on Advanced and High-Impact Research.
About MAHIR:
- The Mission for Accelerating the Indigenization of Emerging Technologies in the Power Sector (MAHIR) aims to identify and develop emerging technologies in the power sector for deployment within and outside India.
- MAHIR will be funded through the pooling of financial resources from the Ministry of Power, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, and the Central Public Sector Enterprises under these ministries.
- Additional funding will be mobilized from the Government of India’s budgetary resources.
- The mission is planned for an initial period of five years, starting from 2023-24 to 2027-28.
Structure of the Mission:
The Mission will have a two-tier structure to facilitate its operations:
- Technical Scoping Committee: Chaired by the Chairperson of the Central Electricity Authority, this committee will identify ongoing and emerging research areas globally and recommend potential technologies for development under MAHIR.
- Apex Committee: Chaired by the Union Minister for Power & New and Renewable Energy, this committee will deliberate on the technologies and products to be developed and approve research proposals.
Areas Identified for Research:
MAHIR will focus on various research areas within the power sector, including but not limited to:
- Alternatives to Lithium-Ion storage batteries.
- Modifying electric cookers/pans to suit Indian cooking methods.
- Green hydrogen for mobility (High-Efficiency Fuel Cell).
- Carbon capture.
