Mission on Advanced and High-Impact Research (MAHIR)
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 aims to quickly identify emerging technologies in the power sector and develop them indigenously, at scale, for deployment within and outside India.
- Funding:
- The Mission will be funded by pooling financial resources of the Ministry of Power, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Central Public Sector Enterprises under the two Ministries.
- Additional funding will be mobilized from the Government of India’s budgetary resources.
- Duration: The mission is Planned for an initial period of five years from 2023-24 to 2027-28.
- Structure of the Mission: The Mission will have a two-tier structure –
- A Technical Scoping Committee: It will be chaired by the Chairperson of the Central Electricity Authority.
- It will identify ongoing and emerging research areas globally and recommend potential technologies for development under the Mission.
- Apex Committee: It will be chaired by the Union Minister for Power & New and Renewable Energy.
- It will deliberate on the technology and products to be developed and approve the research proposal.
- Areas Identified for Research: 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 etc.