The need to increase the use of renewable energy sources for sustainable energy development was recognised in the country in the early 70's. Since 1980s, a significant thrust has been given to the research, development and induction of renewable energy technologies in different sectors. To begin with, these endeavours were steered and overseen by the Commission for Additional Sources of Energy (CASE) in the Department of Science and Technology. In 1982, a separate Department of Non-Conventional Energy Sources was created in the Ministry of Energy and entrusted with the charge of promoting non-conventional energy sources. In 1992, DNES was upgraded and it started functioning as a separate Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES).

Charter of Mnes

2.2 Under the Allocation of Business Rules, the following specific items have been assigned to the Ministry:-

• Research and development of biogas and programmes relating to biogas units;
• Commission for Additional Sources of Energy (CASE);
• Solar Energy including Solar Photovoltaic devices and their development, production and applications;
• Programme relating to improved chulhas and research and development thereof;
• Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency;
• All matters relating to small/mini/micro hydel projects of and below 25 MW capacity;
• Research and development of other non-conventional/renewable sources of energy and programmes relating thereto;
• Tidal energy;
• Integrated Rural Energy Programme (IREP);
• Geothermal Energy.

Structure of the Ministry

Commission for Additional Sources of Energy

2.3 The Commission for Additional Sources of Energy was established in 1981 on the lines of the Atomic Energy Commission and the Space Commission to oversee the development of new energy sources in the country. The Commission functions under the chairmanship of Secretary, MNES with the following responsibilities:-

• Formulating policies and programmes for the development of new and renewable sources of energy.
• Co-ordinating and intensifying research and development activities in new and renewable sources of energy.
• Ensuring implementation of Government's policies in regard to all matters concerning new and renewable sources of energy.

2.4 The Commission held 3 meetings during 2002-2003 to consider policy, programmes and schemes of the Ministry and to review the progress of implementation under various programmes.

Functional Groups

2.5 The Ministry is broadly organised into six Functional Groups dealing with `Rural Energy', `Solar Energy', `Power from Renewables', `Energy from Urban and Industrial Wastes', `New Technologies' and `Administration and Co-ordination'. In addition, the Ministry has an Integrated Finance Division. The Ministry is classified as a Scientific Ministry.

Regional Offices

2.6 The Ministry has 9 Regional Offices, which carry out monitoring and inspection of projects and maintain liaison with the concerned State Governments and State Nodal Agencies and other Implementing Agencies.

2.7 The functional jurisdiction of Regional Offices is given below:

Sl. No.	Location of the Regional Office	Functional jurisdiction in States/UTs
1.	Chandigarh	Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Delhi
2.	Ahmedabad	Gujarat, Rajasthan, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu
3.	Lucknow	Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal
4.	Guwahati	Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Meghalaya and Sikkim
5.	Bhopal	Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh
6.	Hyderabad	Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa
7.	Bhubaneshwar	Orissa and West Bengal
8.	Chennai	Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andaman & Nicobar, Pondicherry and Lakshadeep
9.	Patna	Bihar and Jharkhand