India has announced plans to invest $80 billion in the expansion of the country’s renewable energy resources. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman told Parliament on Thursday that an additional $250 billion would be further invested between the years 2023 and 2030 in this sector.
India currently ranks fourth globally in terms of wind power generation, while in solar energy, it ranks fifth. The share of renewables in the nation’s total electric power generation increased from six per cent in 2014-15 to ten per cent in 2018-19 amid a national drive to provide all communities with electricity.
“Harnessing these resources is part of India’s vision to achieve social equity and energy transition with energy security, a stronger economy and climate change mitigation,” Sitaraman said while presenting Economic Survey 2018-19, a review and overview of the country’s economic situation.
The cumulative installed capacity of renewable power, excluding hydro, is above 25 MW, and more than doubled from 35 GW in 2014 to 78 GW by March 2019. India has set the target of achieving an installed capacity of renewable-based power of 175 GW by the year 2022.
While renewable energy capacity has been widely expanded, Sitaraman said, fossil fuel-based energy is likely to continue to be an important source of power.
The industry has behaved cautiously about infusing funds into the sector. It hopes that along with investments, a favourable policy framework would also have to be put in place to deliver the desired results.
“With such an investment, the business has shinning growth, but are we looking at easing out of the policies too? Are we looking at being benefited on the micro scale too? With the potential India has in its renewable sector, we need to simultaneously work over the infrastructure as well, which indeed can create an atmosphere for clean energy,” Aditya Bhatia, Director of Infinity Vital, a renewable energy and engineering company, told Sputnik .
India is a promoter of the International Solar Alliance, along with France, in providing a dedicated platform for cooperation among solar- rich countries.