India reiterates focus on renewable energy

Aims to generate 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022, 100 GW from solar power

GN Bureau | March 12, 2018


#Energy   #Environment   #Economy   #Emmanuel Macron   #Narendra Modi   #Solar Energy  


Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with French president Emmanuel Macron who is on a four-day visit to India, inaugurated the 75 MW solar power plant in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, on Monday.

The largest solar power plant in Uttar Pradesh has been built in collaboration with French solar power giant Engie Solar under the International Solar Alliance (ISA) programme.

India’s stress on solar power as a source of clean and renewable energy, got a major boost in 2010 when the National Solar Mission was launched.

The Mission had set a target of deploying 20,000 MW of grid connected solar power by 2022. However, the Modi government revised the target of Grid Connected Solar Power Projects from 20,000 MW by 2021-22 to 100,000 MW by 2021-22 under the National Solar Mission and it was approved by cabinet on June 17, 2015.

India is making steady strides in achieving its initial target as according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). As on February 28, 2018, a grid connected solar capacity of 19.58 GW has been installed and the government is very close to achieving 20GW in 2017-18 itself of the the target set initially.

According to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) there has been increase in percentage of renewable energy in the total energy mix from 5.56% in 2014-15 to 7.83% in 2017-18 (upto January 2018).

In the presence of the French president, Modi on March 11 announced one of the world’s largest investment plans in solar energy. Speaking at the at the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), the PM highlighted India’s target to achieve 175 GW of renewable energy, out of which 100 GW would be solar energy. He noted that 20 GW of solar energy had already been achieved.

Modi laid out about ten action points including developing low cost solar energy, increasing scope of solar in energy mix, promoting solar energy based innovations and concessional financing for solar projects and announced the  $1.4 billion line of credit will cover 27 projects in 15 countries and will ne give a major push in the production of solar energy.

Comments

 

Other News

New pathways for tourism growth

Traditionally, India’s tourism policy has been based on three main components: the number of visitors, building tourist attractions and providing facilities for tourists. Due to the increase in climate-related issues and environmental destruction that occurred over previous years, policymakers have b

Is the US a superpower anymore?

On April 8, hours after warning that “a whole civilisation will die tonight,” US president Donald Trump, exhibiting his unique style of retreating from high-voltage brinkmanship, announced that he agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran. The weekend talks in Islamabad have failed and the futur

Machines communicate, humans connect

There is a moment every event professional knows—the kind that arrives without warning, usually an hour before the curtain rises. Months of meticulous planning are in place. And then comes the call: “We’ll also need a projector. For the slides.”   No email

Why India is entering a ‘stagflation lite’ phase

India’s macroeconomic narrative is quietly shifting—from a rare “Goldilocks” equilibrium of stable growth and contained inflation to a more fragile phase where external shocks are beginning to dominate domestic policy outcomes. The numbers still look reassuring at first glance: GDP

Labour law in India: A decade of transition

The story of labour law in India is not just about laws and codes, but also about how the nation has continued to negotiate the position of the workforce within its economic framework. The implementation of the Labour Codes across the country in November 2025 marks a definitive endpoint in the process. Yet

Time for India to build genuine resilience in energy security

There is a strip of water barely 33 kilometres wide between Iran and Oman that connects the Persian Gulf to the rest of the world`s oceans. For most of India`s history, it was a distant geographic fact. Since late February, it has been a kitchen problem.   The Strait of Hormuz. T


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter