New Delhi (NVI): India is targetting 500 GW of renewable energy capacity mark in the coming years, a top official of the government told an international meet.
Anand Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, was speaking at a conference organised by International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in Abu Dhabi, where decision-makers from 150 countries participated.
“In 2015, India set a target of 175 GW of renewables by 2022. We now target 500 GW,” he told the conference.
In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had set the target of generating 175 GW (giga watt) of renewable energy by 2022.
At the climate change summit held in December last year, the Prime Minister told the world leaders that India was inching towards its goal of 175 GW RE by 2022. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) was reported to have initiated drafting plans and policies to meet the new escalated target.
The thrust on increasing the renewable element of the energy is part of India’s efforts to fight climate change.
Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. NDCs are also part of the Paris Agreement which requests each country to outline and communicate their post-2020 climate actions.
Presently, the issues hampering growth of renewables in India are lack of interest of financial institution to fund renewable energy projects, safeguard duty on imported solar panels, ambiguity over goods and services tax (GST) on solar equipment and low investor sentiment due to delayed or non-payment by discoms to clean energy developers.
