India graduating from megawatts to gigawatts in renewable energy: Modi

He was speaking at the inauguration of RE-INVEST 2015, India`s first Renewable Energy Global Investors` Meet and Expo, in New Delhi. 

 

Observing that India has now graduated from Megawatts to Gigawatts in terms of renewable energy production, the Prime Minister said that even today there are lakhs of families in the country that are deprived of energy connectivity. He said the fruits of development will not reach the common man until energy connectivity reaches every last household of the country. 

 

Modi asserted that in this age of globalization, we have no option but to make a quantum leap in energy production and connectivity. 

 

The Prime Minister asserted that India`s stress on renewable energy is not aimed at impressing the world, but to meet our own people`s energy requirements. 

 

He spoke of the "seven horses of energy." He said that so far, India has focused on thermal, gas, hydro and nuclear power. But now we need to add Solar Energy, Wind Energy and Biomass Energy. 

 

The Prime Minister said India is also working towards evolving a consortium of about 50 countries that are blessed with abundant solar radiation. This will aim to pool research and technological advancements in the field of solar energy, to improve its accessibility to the poorest of the poor, and in the remotest of locations. 

 

Modi suggested the possibility of hybrid energy parks harnessing solar and wind energy together in an area to maximize benefit. He also encouraged the installation of solar panels over water bodies to harness solar energy as well as minimize surface evaporation. 

 

He further spoke about the need for harnessing rooftop solar power. In the rural areas, he stressed on the need for solar pumps to reduce input costs for farmers. He also raised the issue about need for micro-irrigation to conserve water and enhance crop yield for farmers. 

 

The Prime Minister has welcomed initiatives by many state governments in this direction. This collective efforts, he said, will truly take the country "from Megawatts to Gigawatts." 

 

He said that if any country has the potential to lead the world in the domain of renewable energy, it is India. 

 

The Prime Minister said that loving nature and living in harmony with nature is a part of India`s DNA. At the same time, he said, we cannot merely rely on our culture and traditions to carry us through, but sustained efforts are needed to make a quantum leap in this direction. 

 

He called for sustained technological research in renewable energy and a thrust on domestic equipment manufacturing for renewable energy as part of the "Make in India" initiative. 

 

In his welcome address, Minister of State for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal pointed out that India now has a historical opportunity to leverage the new paradigm in the global energy sector and define its own path of development and a national power system to achieve its energy security goal. 

 

He said the first renewable energy global conference would usher in a Cleaner, Brighter and Energy secure India. 

 

The Minister said the RE-INVEST is organized with a triple aim. To showcase the renewable energy potential of India to the world and attracting investments, which may go up to 200 million dollars with the enthusiastic support received from various parts of India and from all over the world. 

 

"The government would like to repose the investors’ confidence once again to invest in the renewable energy sector which will certainly play an important role as we move towards energy security. We would like to establish India as the manufacturing hub for renewables and for research and innovation, which is pitched in the Make in India campaign that has become the core of the new government’s initiative to create jobs in India, to make manufacturing competitiveness in India and to make India a super power in terms of its own technology and manufacturing capabilities," said he.

 

"The government would like to signal to the world its commitment to combat climate change. This is out of the government and the Prime Minister’s own initiative and not under any pressure and not under any commitment. It is our own commitment to the world, to our people to leave behind a better future for the future generations of India," added he.

 

The Minister pointed out that RE-INVEST is a multi stakeholder platform where we are looking at engaging with bankers to see how we can have innovative financing models. 

 

"We are engaging with developers and manufacturers to understand their problems and to see how we can make sure bankable & innovative financial power purchase agreements be created. This conference will help us to understand what more is to be done in partnership with the states, different departments of the government, developers, manufacturers and all other stakeholders in the renewable energy sector and academia who will help in research and development in innovation & finance which will ensure adequate fund flow to this sector," Goyel said.

 

Goyal said this conference will lay out the road map for the future development of renewable energy sector and he requested active participation by all to take this noble mission forward. 

 

Looking at the history of renewable energy of India, the Minister said in 2000 the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had said that the proposed comprehensive renewable energy policy has to increase its capacity share from 1.7 per cent to ten per cent by 2012. Unfortunately those efforts remain incomplete and what we inherited was merely six per cent share in the India energy basket. 

 

"Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has visualized that we should have a fivefold increase in the country’s mission for renewable energy and we are looking to expand the frontiers of renewable energy in the energy basket of India to over 15 per cent in the next ten or twelve years, which would bring India to one of the largest renewable energy countries of the world, possibly the largest country renewable energy wise. As Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Narendra Modi made it the number one renewable energy state in the country with pioneering step," Goyel said.

 

At the function, the Prime Minister gave away the awards to 12 States for their outstanding contribution in the field of Renewable Energy. Besides, 27 companies including NTPC & SBI handed over to the Prime Minister their Green Energy Commitment Certificates. 

 

The Minister of State (IC) for Commerce and Industry Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Cabinet Secretary Ajith Seth, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Upendra Tripathy were also present on the occasion. 

 

Over 2000 delegates including exhibitors from over 40 countries are attending this event. It will include several sessions headed by senior representatives from the renewable energy industry, equipment manufacturers, global financial institutions, Public Sector Enterprises, regulatory authorities, Central and state governments, research institutions and academia. Secretaries from Government of India and Heads of International Agencies like International Energy Agency, International New & Renewable Energy Agency and also of MNCs will be participating in various sessions. 

 

The venue of the three day global meet, organized by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) will be Hotel Ashok, New Delhi.