ESSL brings in India’s most energy efficient AC

Air conditioners sales in India have been in digits since 2015 as summers get hotter each year. However, these appliances also contribute to an already existing problem. Coolants used in air conditioners are powerful greenhouse gases that contribute to rising global temperatures. Now, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a government enterprise, has launched India’s most energy efficient air conditioner in a bid to reduce emissions and keep the country’s ever-rising electricity demand in check. EESL will spend around ₹190 crore ($28 million) on this project, which is partially funded by development grants from the Asian Development Bank and the Global Environment Facility.

In comparison to the most commonly used models, “it is expected that deploying (EESL’s) 50,000 air conditioners would save 145.5 million kilowatt-hours of electricity (about ₹120 crore) per year, mitigating around 1,20,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually,” EESL said in a statement. Air conditioners have long been considered a luxury product in India. While the vast majority of the population in the US and China has access to these devices, less than 10 per cent of Indians use them. But that number is rising quickly.

Meanwhile, Indian manufacturers have found it easier to develop high-efficiency products when the demand comes in the form of bulk purchase deals such as from EESL. But now it is upon the state-owned firm to sell the air conditioners it has bought from Voltas. To offer the cooling devices directly to consumers in New Delhi, EESL has launched its own e-commerce website, eeslmart.in