NEW DELHI: India has launched the World’s biggest Renewable Programme by making a target of achieving 100 GW of solar power by 2022, which will be out of the total 175 GW the country plans to produce from renewable sources.
At the conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) with French President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “In India, we have started the world’s largest renewable energy expansion program. We will generate 175 GW of electricity from renewable sources of energy by 2022, of which 100 GW will be from solar power. We have already achieved 20 GW installed solar power.”
Modi said that 20 GW solar power have already been installed. He also announced that 500 training slots will be created for member countries and a solar technology mission launched to lead R&D in the sector. The ISA is the first international treaty-based organization headquartered in India. It was established following the Paris Declaration as an alliance dedicated to the promotion of solar energy among its member countries.
India will contribute $27 million to this project and $1 million is contributed by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA).
Out of 121 countries, 61 countries have joined the International Solar Alliance and 32 have ratified the Framework Agreement.
“The distribution of 28 crore LED bulbs in three years has saved $2 billion and four gigawatts of electricity,” Modi said.
While highlighting 10 action points for countries in making ISA a successful initiative PM said, “We have to ensure that better and affordable solar technology is available to all and accessible to everyone. We need to encourage innovation in the solar energy sector to find different uses for it. We will have to move out of the personal and work as a family to achieve our aim. If we link other forms of energy to solar, the results will be even better.”
He said the ISA Secretariat has to be strengthened and made professional. “In India, the Vedas considered the Sun as the spirit of the world thousands of years ago. In India, the Sun is considered to be the nutrition needed to sustain life. Today, when we are looking for a way to tackle the challenge of Climate Change, then we have to look at the balanced and holistic view of India’s ancient philosophy.”
According to an Official ISA was attended by 21 heads of states and heads of government, several top ministers and bureaucrats, apart from participants from multilateral banks, and the United Nations.