1 . Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY)
Syllabus Mapping: GS-II: Social Justice | Tribal Development; GS-III: Mining | Environmental Impact | Sustainable Development
- PMKKKY was launched by the Ministry of Mines in September 2015 to ensure welfare and development of people and areas affected by mining operations.
- The scheme is implemented through District Mineral Foundations (DMFs), which are non-profit trusts established in every mining-affected district under Section 9B of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957.
- DMFs are funded through statutory contributions from mining lease holders: 10% of royalty for leases granted on/after 12 January 2015 and 30% for leases granted before that date.
- PMKKKY has three broad objectives: implementing welfare and development projects, mitigating the adverse environmental, health and socio-economic impacts of mining, and ensuring sustainable livelihoods for affected people.
- Under the revised PMKKKY Guidelines, 2024, at least 70% of DMF funds must be spent on high-priority sectors such as drinking water, healthcare, education, environment, sanitation, housing, skill development and livelihoods.
- Up to 30% can be utilised for other priority sectors, including physical infrastructure, irrigation, energy and watershed development and measures improving environmental quality.
- The 2024 guidelines specifically require at least 70% of funds to be spent in directly affected areas and provide for mandatory audit of DMF accounts by the CAG, grievance redressal and a State-level Monitoring Committee headed by the Chief Secretary.
- In Scheduled Areas, DMF fund utilisation is guided by Article 244, Fifth and Sixth Schedules, PESA Act, 1996 and the Forest Rights Act, 2006, recognising the special vulnerability of tribal communities in mining regions.
- The MMDR Amendment Act, 2021 empowered the Central Government to issue directions regarding the composition and utilisation of DMF funds; subsequent directions also sought to strengthen participation and prevent transfer of DMF funds to State-level funds.
- Gram Sabhas/local bodies may assist in preparation of the five-year Perspective Plan, linking DMF planning with local needs and participatory governance.
2. India’s First Soil Carbon Payments to Farmers
Syllabus Mapping: GS-III: Agriculture | Sustainable Agriculture | Carbon Markets| Environmental Pollution
- India’s first soil-carbon payments are being made to 2,550 smallholder farmers in Punjab and Haryana, linking adoption of regenerative farming with an additional income source.
- The payments are part of ‘Aadi’, a Grow Indigo farmer-carbon programme launched in 2019 with technical guidance from ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research).
- Farmers adopted Direct Seeded Rice (DSR), reduced tillage and crop-residue management during 2019–2022; resulting GHG reductions and soil-carbon gains were measured and independently verified before carbon credits were issued.
- The programme has issued agricultural carbon credits under the Verra VM0042 methodology and currently covers 2 million+ acres and 1 lakh+ farmers across seven States.
- Farmers receive a share of the carbon credits generated from their fields, with the first issuance covering about 30,000 acres and 50,000+ carbon credits; payments were around ₹3,000–₹15,000 per farmer.
- DSR can reduce irrigation requirements compared with conventional rice transplanting, while improved residue management can reduce stubble burning and associated air pollution.
- ICAR institutions, including ICAR-IARI (Indian Agricultural Research Institute), contributed to GHG accounting, soil sampling, crop modelling, field validation and remote-sensing approaches, reflecting the Lab-to-Land approach.
- The initiative demonstrates a carbon-market incentive mechanism in agriculture, where farmers can receive economic returns for verified environmental outcomes rather than relying only on conventional agricultural subsidies.
- The initiative also links with India’s international cooperation on regenerative agriculture: the 16th BRICS Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting (2026) agreed to establish a BRICS Network of Centres of Excellence on Agroecology and Regenerative Agriculture.
3. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Framework for Solid Waste Management
Syllabus Mapping: GS-III: Environmental Pollution | Waste Management | Circular Economy | Climate Change | Sustainable Development
- Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a systematic method for assessing the environmental impacts of a product, process or system across its entire life cycle, rather than examining only one stage.
- In Solid Waste Management (SWM), the LCA framework enables comparison of different waste-management pathways such as recycling, composting, anaerobic digestion, waste-to-energy and landfilling.
- The framework considers emissions and environmental impacts associated with the collection, transportation, treatment, processing and final disposal of waste.
- The framework can account for both direct emissions and avoided emissions; for example, recycling or energy recovery may avoid emissions associated with production of virgin materials or conventional energy.
- The GHG Calculator is a digital tool developed under the project to quantify greenhouse-gas emissions associated with specific SWM technologies and operating scenarios.
- It provides estimates of net emissions, avoided emissions, logistics-related emissions and overall carbon footprint, along with emissions of methane, carbon dioxide, NOx and black carbon.
- The calculator covers anaerobic digestion, incineration/waste-to-energy, composting, recycling and landfilling, allowing ULBs to compare different waste-management scenarios.
- The tools enable Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to select and plan comparatively low-carbon waste-management pathways and assess proposed projects/Detailed Project Reports (DPRs).
4. Skills4Future: EV & Green Skills Lab
Syllabus Mapping: GS-III: Skill Development | Electric Vehicles | Green Economy | Employment | Sustainable Mobility
- Skills4Future is a collaborative green-skilling initiative of Shell India, Directorate General of Training (DGT), Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and Edunet Foundation.
- The programme focuses on industry-aligned vocational training in Electric Vehicle (EV) technologies, battery systems, diagnostics, safety and other green technologies.
- The EV & Green Skills Lab at NSTI Bengaluru provides hands-on training infrastructure, linking vocational education with emerging employment opportunities in e-mobility and clean energy.
- The programme has reached 290+ institutes across five States, trained 70,000+ learners, upskilled 258+ faculty members and established 20 Green Skills EV Labs.
- In Karnataka, Skills4Future has covered 101 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and trained 9,113 students, strengthening the State’s green-skills ecosystem.
- National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) function under the Directorate General of Training (DGT), MSDE and provide advanced vocational training and instructor-training facilities.
- The initiative addresses the green-skills gap by combining industry participation + practical training + updated curriculum, helping align the workforce with India’s transition towards green mobility.
5. Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS)
Syllabus Mapping: GS-III: Manufacturing | Electronics Industry | Semiconductors | Atmanirbhar Bharat | Supply-Chain Resilience
- Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS) was notified on 8 April 2025 by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) to promote domestic manufacturing of critical electronic components, sub-assemblies and related inputs.
- The scheme was initially approved with an outlay of ₹22,919 crore, which was enhanced to ₹40,000 crore under Union Budget 2026–27; it has a 6-year tenure with an optional 1-year gestation period.
- ECMS targets import-dependent components such as Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), camera and display modules, connectors, capacitors, lithium-ion cells and rare-earth magnets, helping increase domestic value addition in electronics manufacturing.
- As of August 2026, 106 projects across 15 States covering 30 electronic product domains had been approved, involving ₹69,548 crore of investment.
- The scheme is important because India’s electronics sector has grown rapidly, but assembly-led growth without a strong component ecosystem can leave the country vulnerable to imported inputs and global supply-chain disruptions.
- The National Policy on Electronics (NPE) 2019 aims to make India a global hub for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM); ECMS strengthens the component-manufacturing base required for this objective.
- The Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS) provided capital-expenditure incentives for electronic components, semiconductor/display fabrication, Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging (ATMP) units and related capital goods; ECMS builds further depth in the component ecosystem.
- ECMS complements the Semicon India Programme: Semicon India focuses specifically on the semiconductor ecosystem such as fabs, packaging/testing and chip design, whereas ECMS covers the broader electronics component and sub-assembly ecosystem.
- Rare-earth magnets and lithium-ion cells under ECMS also highlight the link between electronics manufacturing and critical-mineral/battery supply chains, making domestic component capacity relevant to both technological and economic security.
