India to generate 100 GW solar energy by 2022: Suresh Prabhu

NEW DELHI: Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation at a function of International Solar Alliance (ISA) Innovation and Investment Forum in New Delhi has said demand for energy will increase due to rapid development taking place in India and fossil fuel is not going to last forever and therefore there is need for renewable energy.

He said that fossil fuel is not going to last forever even if its resources are managed in the best possible manner. The use of shale gas and oil is limited and it adversely impacts the environment. The threat of climate change has become a reality and it has affected bio-diversity of the planet. Imbalanced use of energy is the root cause of many environmental problems in different parts of the world. It is causing unprecedented heat wave conditions in Europe, intensity and frequency of typhoons have also increased.

Referring to variations in Monsoon rainfall in India, the Minister said that India is in no way responsible for what is happening in the atmosphere over Indian Ocean, but it has to bear the consequences of ocean warming. He said that the time has come when we will have to switch over to the clean form of energy like solar power.

The Minister stated that the idea of solar alliance was conceived by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in 2015 as a treaty-based international intergovernmental organization. ISA stands for co-operation among 121 solar rich countries lying fully or partially between the tropics in order to promote massive deployment of solar energy and make solar energy affordable.