BHUBANESWAR: India needs around Rs 42 lakh crore investment in the transmission line and renewable energy (RE) sector in the next six years to achieve the ambitious target of generating 500 gigawatt (GW) non-fossil fuel energy by 2030, said Union minister of New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi on Thursday.
Inaugurating the two-day ‘RE Chintan Shivir’ of the ministry here, Joshi said a roadmap in this regard will be prepared after the stakeholders meeting that intends to bridge the gap between upcoming renewable energy projects and transmission readiness.
Joshi said, “India’s renewable energy generation was around 75 GW before 2014. However, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country has been able to increase it to 212 GW in the last 10 years with an investment of around Rs 22 lakh crore. Solar energy generation capacity has increased by 136 times in this period.”
He said another Rs 42 lakh crore investment will be required in both transmission line and RE sector to achieve 500 GW energy from non-fossil fuel in the next six years. “There are multiple issues pertaining to land, storage, power purchase agreement etc, that need to be addressed to meet the target. The policymakers, leading industries and other stakeholders at the Chintan Shivir will deliberate on these challenges to find solutions and prepare a blueprint for achieving the goal,” he said.
Minister of state for Power and New and Renewable Energy Shripad Yesso Naik said India will be energy independent by 2047 with solar, green and other renewable energy sources being the driving force behind it. “The recommendations emerging from the Chintan Shivir will help in refining MNRE’s strategies to achieve the 500 GW RE target by 2030 and its progress to the next goal of generating 1,800 GW RE by 2047,” he said.
Deputy chief minister KV Singh Deo said Odisha has huge potential in renewable energy sector and the state will work closely with the Centre in setting up new RE projects to achieve energy target from the non-fossil fuel sources. Union Power secretary Pankaj Agarwal, MNRE secretary Prashant Kumar Singh, additional secretary Sudeep Jain and state Energy secretary Vishal Dev were present among others.
Joshi hands over 10 battery vehicles to SJTA
Bhubaneswar: Union minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday flagged off 10 battery-operated vehicles at Puri. The minister handed over the keys to the chief administrators of SJTA after offering prayers at the Shree Jagannath temple. This initiative is part of the CSR programme of the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA).