President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday said India has embarked on an ambitious target of having 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030 and provide 17 lakh solar pumps to farmers under Pradhan Mantri-Kusum Yojana in coming days to capitalise on this clean resource.
As of December 2019, 86 GW of renewable energy capacity has already been achieved. This includes 34 GW of solar and 38 GW of wind energy. Besides, around 36 GW of clean energy is under installation and about 35 GW is under bidding stage.
Addressing a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament, Kovind said: “Keeping environment conservation in mind, my Government has enhanced the target for producing renewable energy to 450 gigawatts (GW). Under the Pradhan Mantri-Kusum Yojana, it has been targeted to provide more than 17 lakh solar pumps to farmers across the country.”
He noted that under the second phase of the solar roof top programme, the target is to generate 38 GW of electricity.
In September last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced doubling India’s non-fossil fuel target to 450 GW at Climate Action Summit at UN headquarters.
Kovind also told the members that after International Solar Alliance (ISA), India has been at the forefront of a global partnership.
The ISA was set up under the aegis of India. It was created to provide a dedicated platform for cooperation among solar resource rich countries.
As many as 85 countries have signed the ISA framework agreement. A total 64 nations have ratified it.
The country is already struggling to achieve target of having 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022 which includes 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind energy. It will be interesting to see the kind of policies to propel in achieving additional 275 GW of renewable energy in the time frame announced by President.