Bihar Energy Conservation Fund Rules, 2010
Published vide Notification No. iz02@ch0m0la0 dks"k&28@06&01&141
dated 10.01.2011Last Updated 4th February, 2020 [bh771]
(i) "Act" means the Energy Conservation Act 2001 (Central Govt. Act. 52 of 2001);
(ii) "Fund" means the "Bihar State Energy Conservation Fund" established by the Government under section 16 of the Act;
(iii) "Government" means the Government of Bihar;
(iv) "Section" means a section of the Energy Conservation Act., 2001;
(v) "The State Designated Agency (SDA)" means Bihar Renewable Energy Development Agency (BREDA) nominated as State Designated Agency under Section 15(D) of the Act;
(vi) "SLSC" means the State Level Steering Committee for Bihar State Energy Conservation Fund Constituted under these rules;
(vii) All other words and expression used here in and not defined but defined in the Act; shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Act.
3. Constitution of the Fund. - (1) There shall be constituted by the Government a fund called the "Bihar Energy Conservation Fund" for the purposes of promotion of efficient use of energy and conservation within the territory of Bihar, with an initial sum of money transferred to the fund as capital by the government. (2) The Fund shall be credited all grants and loans that may be made by the Bihar State Government or the Central Government or given by any autonomous body/agency/any other organisation or individual for achieving the objectives of the Act. (3) The Fund constituted under this rule shall be administered by the Designated Agency as notified by the State Government under section 16(4) of the Act. (4) The fund may be credited the proceeds of any tax, levy or duty/cess imposed and the Fund shall be utilised for the purposes of promotion of efficient use of energy and its conservation with furtherance of renewable energy sources within the territory State of Bihar. 4. Application of the Fund. - The fund shall, inter alia, be utilised for the following purposes namely :-(1) To incur expenditure through State Designated Agency for various awareness programmes to disseminate information for efficient use of energy and its conservation, to promote use of non-conventional and renewable energy sources meant to minimize or lower green house gas emissions;
(2) To meet the expenditure incurred in organising training programmes for personnel and specialists pertaining to efficient use of energy and its conservation by State Designated Agency;
(3) For promotion of research and development in the field of energy conservation;
(4) To develop procedures for testing and certification procedure, in creation of testing facilities for certification and/or verification testing of energy consumption of equipments and appliances;
(5) To develop and execute demonstration projects related to promotion and efficient use of energy and its conservation. energy substitution including promotion of renewable sources which leads to lower green house gas emissions;
(6) To promote the use of energy efficient processes from the equipments, devices and systems;
(7) To meet the matching grant to the centrally sponsored schemes and schemes of Bureau of Energy Efficiency implemented in the territory of Bihar;
(8) To meet the expenses incurred by the Designated Agency for implementing the provisions of the Act;
(9) To meet expenditures on any new item of work not contemplated in the budget;
(10) To meet the expenses incurred by state designated agency on staff and others for the dedicated Energy Conservation Cell.
5. The State Level Steering Committee (SLSC). - (1) There shall be a State Level Steering Committee, which shall be the authority to administer the fund, which may delegate powers to the Chief Executive Officer or such other authority of SDA. The Steering Committee shall comprise of the following-(a) Principal Secretary/Secretary, Energy Department, Govt. of Bihar - Chairman
(b) Director, BREDA/Chief Executive Officer, SDA - Member Secretary
(c) Secretary, Industries or an officer not below the rank of Joint Secretary nominated by him - Member
(d) Secretary, Finance or an officer not below the rank of Joint Secretary nominated by him - Member
(e) Chief Electrical Inspector Energy Deptt., Govt. of Bihar - Member
(f) Representative of Bureau of Energy Efficiency - Member
(2) The meeting of SLSC shall be held at least once in every three months. (3) The SLSC shall have the following functions:(d) To provide guidance and support to SDA for carrying out the energy conservation activities through Bihar State Energy Conservation Fund.
([k) To approve the annual budgets for carrying out the energy conservation activities by SDA from the Bihar State Energy Conservation Fund.
(x) To review and monitor the progress of activities carried out by SDA from the Bihar State Energy Conservation Fund.
6. Operation of the fund. - (1) The State Designated Agency notified under clause (d) of Section 15 of the Act shall operate and maintain proper accounts of the Fund and other relevant records and prepare annual statement of accounts. It shall furnish the income and expenditure report to the Government on quarterly basis. (2) The account of the Fund shall be audited by the Chartered Accountant firm appointed by the State Designated Agency and may also be audited by the Accountant General, Bihar from time to time. 7. Closure of the Fund. - (1) The Fund shall remain operative so long as the relevant provision of the Act remain in force. (2) At the time of closure of the Fund when the Fund is no longer required, all the unspent balance under the Fund shall be utilized in the manner prescribed by the Department of Energy, Govt. of Bihar.