Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah today said there was a need to integrate the renewable energies like wind, solar, and hydro in India. “Further schemes will keep coming up till our power needs are met,” he added while speaking at a conference organised by the Indian Wind Power Association in New Delhi.

The minister said talks were on with the power ministry for grid connectivity for the purpose.

Abdullah said it was important for the industry to take up the challenge by putting pilot projects in prospective areas. “We should think of harnessing wind energy in my state of Jammu and Kashmir too. Generally you want to harness wind energy in coastal areas or Bangalore, where it is easy but you should explore new areas like Leh. You should think of developing India also,” he said.

Shyam Saran, special envoy to the prime minister on climate change, who also attended the conference said energy security was a very important as without it it would be difficult to maintain high growth rate.

The advantage for India, Saran said, was that the things needed to be done for climate change mitigation were the same for energy security.