“India’s commanding position in renewable energy generation can help energy transition globally”. PM Narendra Modi
‘माता भूमि पुत्रोहं पृथिव्या’ (Earth is my mother and I am her son) is India’s ideas towards conserving mother Earth and new India’s pro-planet initiatives replicates this idea in present context to deliver solutions to global problems like climate change. Today India is the world’s third largest producer of renewable energy with 40% of its installed electrical capacity coming from non fossil fuel sources. Now, as India begins its journey to Amrit Kaal it understands its ‘Kartavya’ to address global problems. So in spite of being far below the global average in carbon emission at 2.4 tCO2e in comparison to least developed countries emitting 2.3 tCO2e annually, it has set a target of achieving 450 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, which includes 280 GW of solar power, 140 GW of wind power, and 10 GW of bioenergy (Achieved in 2022).
From taking the leadership to form International solar alliance to gifting 50 KW ‘Gandhi Solar park’ at UN headquarter worth $1 Million show Prime Minister’s commitment as well as ‘Panchamrut’ commitment at COP26 summit in Glasgow including generation of 500 GW Non-fossil energy capacity by 2030 and making 50 percent of its energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030 demonstrates his strong commitment towards the environment on the global platform.
The results show that the new India walks the talk as it has witnessed a 25x tremendous increase in installed generation capacity from over 2.6 GW in 2014 to over 67.82 GW till May 2023 making it the third-largest solar power market in the world with a share of 15.1% in total renewable energy source. Not only solar energy, but India has increased its wind energy generation by 18x from 2.2 GW in 2014 to 43.2 GW till February 2023 making it the fourth-largest wind power market in the world with a share of 10.2% in total renewable energy source. India has also seen over 131% increase in biomass energy production from 4.4 GW in 2014 to 10.2 GW now. Along with that total non fossil fuel energy generation in India is over 175.7 GW including the hydropower production of 46.8 GW which increased by 18.9% since the year 2014.
Due to increased renewable energy generation in India, the import of coal has been reduced saving foreign exchange worth Rs. 25,900 crores. Today, 7,15,029 streetlights, 17,21,343 homelights, 75,29,365 solar lanterns, 25,6,156 solar pumps and 2,14,565 (KW) stand alone solar parks are functioning with solar energy in India.
Today, new India’s renewable energy infrastructure is growing at marvelous scale with India having the world’s largest solar park at Bhadla, in Rajasthan having capacity of 2.45 GWs. The Pavagada solar park in karnataka is world’s second largest photovoltaic solar park with a capacity of 2.05 GW. The Rewa ultra mega solar park project in Madhya Pradesh with a capacity of 750 MW is the first project in India to be supplying power to an inter-state open access customer, viz, Delhi Metro. Apart from it in Andhra Pradesh, the Kurnool ultra mega solar project with capacity of 1 GW and NP Kunta ultra mega solar park with capacity of 1.5 GW are among those new solar parks developed post 2014.
Along with solar energy, India’s wind energy production is also scaling up like never before. The government’s policy has also inspired the private players to contribute in achieving the 2030 target which has witnessed development of Green Infra Wind Energy limited in Gujarat (300 MW) and Adani green Energy (MP) Limited in Gujarat (50 MW) as well as Green Energy WInd Infra Ltd. in Tamil nadu (249.9 MW).
The unique efforts of the government by implementing initiatives that will boost production to adoption of renewable energy play a catalytic role in making India – A global renewable energy hub. ‘Rooftop Solar Subsidy Program’ by the central government has led to an installed capacity of over 8.48 GW by offering subsidy of 14588 Rs/kW. The ‘Suryamitra’ program is one such program focusing on creating skilled manpower in the field of solar energy to install, operate and maintain SPV systems. Over 51000 individuals have already been trained under these programs. PM KUSUM aims at giving energy security to new India’s farmers which has witnessed a total production capacity of 88.45 MW saving 32 million tonnes of CO2 emission per year.
PLI scheme in Solar PV manufacturing with financial outlays of INR 24,000 Cr introduced under Atmanirbhar Bharat which has received investments of over 10000 crores generating employment for around 6900 individuals. The renewable energy sector has become a major source of employment in India, with over 100,000 people employed in the solar sector alone. India attracts USD 13 bn FDI in non-conventional energy sector shows that increase of renewable energy is also proportional increase in employment and inversely proportional in decreasing carbon footprints in its journey to Amrit Kaal.
The pace at which India is investing and implementing the renewable energy projects to achieve its aspirational targets makes it a torchbearer of renewable energy globally. India’s stride in renewable energy will not only be a major leap in the environment but also be a major step towards making India a self illuminating country in terms of energy.
Author : Prachi Vyas
Author Description : Prachi Vyas has pursued master's in Environmental Sciences from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. She has done research on socio-economic and environmental factors post development of Statue of Unity'. She is currently interning at National biodiversity authority, Government of India.
Disclaimer : The views, thoughts, or opinions expressed in this blogs belong solely to the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of author’s employer, organisation, committee or any other group or individual.
