Creation CASE and Ministry:

       The role of new and renewable energy has been assuming increasing significance in recent times with the growing concern for the country’s energy security. Energy ‘self-sufficiency’ was identified as the major driver for new and renewable energy in the country in the wake of the two oil shocks of the 1970s. The sudden increase in the price of oil, uncertainties associated with its supply and the adverse impact on the balance of payments position led to the establishment of the Commission for Additional Sources of Energy in the Department of Science & Technology in March 1981. The Commission was charged with the responsibility of formulating policies and their implementation, programmes for development of new and renewable energy apart from coordinating and intensifying R&D in the sector. In 1982, a new department, i.e., Department of Non-conventional Energy Sources (DNES), that incorporated CASE, was created in the then Ministry of Energy. In 1992, DNES became the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources. In October 2006, the Ministry was re-christened as the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.