Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India is preparing a sustainable energy pathway for the next 1,000 years, with a focus on solar, wind, nuclear and hydropower.
Addressing the inaugural day of the 4th Global Renewable Energy Investors Summit (RE-INVEST) 2024, the Prime Minister said, “Our goal is not to reach the top, but to stay on top. Today, not just Indians, but the whole world feels that India is the best bet for the 21st century. Earlier this month, the Global Fintech Fest was held, followed by the first Solar International Festival attended by people from across the world. Then people from all corners of the world came to the Global Semiconductor Summit and today we are here to discuss the future of green energy.”
“We do not have huge reserves of oil and gas, we are not energy producers. Therefore, we have focused on solar energy, wind energy, nuclear and hydropower to secure our future. We are determined to build a sustainable energy path ahead,” he said.
RE-INVEST 2024 is being organised by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) at Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
The Prime Minister highlighted the Government’s initiatives towards green energy in the first 100 days of the third term. He said, “In the last 100 days, we have taken important decisions to support green energy. We have launched the Offshore Green Energy Policy under the Vibrant Gas Funding Scheme, on which we plan to spend over Rs 7,000 crore. India is also working on generating 31,000 MW of hydropower, for which we will spend over Rs 12,000 crore.”
The Prime Minister also highlighted the efforts being made to achieve the target of installing 500 GW of renewable energy capacity in India by 2030. He said, “We are a leader among the G-20 countries. The country which was not seen as a developed nation earlier, will now set an example for the world as a developing country.”
India’s renewable energy targets
At the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) in Glasgow in 2021, Prime Minister Modi outlined the climate action plan for the country. This included meeting 50 per cent of the country’s energy needs from renewable energy by 2030, reaching 500 gigawatts of non-fossil energy capacity by 2030, and achieving net zero emissions by 2070.
Since then, India has made substantial progress in installing renewable energy capacity and is on track to rank fourth globally in 2022, according to Climate Action Tracker.
As part of its efforts to combat climate change, India, along with France, conceptualised the International Solar Alliance (ISA). It was conceived during the COP21 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Paris in 2015. It is a treaty-based intergovernmental organisation with 99 member countries and 119 countries have signed the ISA Framework Agreement.
Headquartered in India, ISA aims to promote the use of solar energy technologies in member countries to ensure improved energy access, energy security and enable energy transition. It aims to mobilise $1,000 billion in investment by 2030 for solar energy deployment.
According to government data, India’s installed solar power capacity has increased 30 times in the last 9 years and is set to reach 89.4 GW by August 2024. Similarly, the installed capacity of wind power was 47.19 GW, small hydro capacity was 5.07 GW and large hydro capacity was 46.92 GW, official data showed.
It is noteworthy that India is the only G-20 country that has achieved the climate goals committed at the Paris Climate Change Conference in 2015 before the deadline.
In 2022, India updated its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) or climate goals, raising the target to reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 45 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.
