IIT Ropar’s CREED Initiative Reveals Massive Savings Potential for State’s Pharma Giants
Goa – As Goa’s pharmaceutical industry continues to produce 12% of India’s total medicine supply
and dominate the state’s industrial landscape with over 150 manufacturing units, a significant
opportunity remains largely unexplored: energy efficiency.
Recent analysis by the Centre of Research for Energy Efficiency and Decarbonization (CREED) lead by
Dr. S. Manigandan, Department of Chemical Engineering at IIT Ropar, reveals that Goa’s
pharmaceutical sector could be leaving crores on the table through inefficient energy consumption.
The numbers are staggering.
The Energy Equation
Goa’s pharmaceutical units collectively consume an estimated 150-200 million units (kWh) of
electricity annually. With industrial power tariffs averaging ₹6-7 per unit, the sector’s annual
electricity bill alone exceeds ₹100 crores. Yet international benchmarking studies and case studies
from similar facilities suggest that 15-20% of this consumption is avoidable waste.
The Triple Benefit: Money, Energy, Carbon
For an average pharmaceutical unit in Goa consuming 3 million kWh annually, professional energy
auditing could unlock:
● ₹25-40 lakhs in annual savings on electricity costs
● 450,000-600,000 kWh reduction in energy consumption
● 350-450 tonnes of CO₂ emissions prevented per year
Scaled across Goa’s 150 pharmaceutical units, the collective impact becomes transformative:
potential annual savings of ₹15-20 crores, energy reduction of 25-30 million kWh, and carbon
footprint reduction equivalent to removing 2,500-3,000 cars from Goa’s roads.
World-Class Expertise Comes to Goa
CREED, IIT Ropar – empanelled under the Bureau of Energy Efficiency and now serving MSMEs
through Goa’s RAMP Programme – brings cutting-edge energy auditing expertise directly across all
the sectors in Goa. Having already achieved savings of over 15,000 tonnes of CO₂ across Punjab
industries, CREED’s investment-grade audit reports identify inefficiencies in HVAC systems,
compressed air, process heating, utility management and much more.
“The pharmaceutical industry is energy-intensive by nature, but it’s also ripe with optimization
opportunities,” notes CREED’s technical team. “CREED, IIT Ropar’s energy audits using data analytics
and insights can uncover hidden inefficiencies that traditional approaches miss.”
Government Incentives Sweeten the Deal
With 50% government subsidies available on energy audit costs and attractive incentives for
implementing green upgrades, the investment barrier has never been lower. Most recommended
measures offer payback periods of under 2 years, with many “quick wins” paying for themselves
within months.
As Goa’s pharmaceutical sector eyes expansion and international competitiveness, energy efficiency
isn’t just about cost savings – it’s about sustainability credentials that increasingly matter to global
buyers, regulatory compliance, and operational resilience.
The question for Goa’s pharmaceutical leaders isn’t whether they can afford to conduct energy
audits. It’s whether they can afford not to.
Get in touch
Dr. Vignesh K
Energy Manager
Kotak IIT Madras Save Energy Mission Project (KISEM)
Center of Research for Energy Efficiency & Decarbonization (CREED)
Indian Institute of Technology Ropar
Punjab – 140001
Phone number: +917397590384
Email: em1.kisem@iitrpr.ac.in