Ahead of the United Nations conference on climate change in Copenhagen at the yearend, the Indian government is likely to announce that 15% of its new energy capacity addition would be from renewable resources by 2020, according to a source.
The prime minister’s office (PMO) is preparing a draft on a national solar mission that will be announced on November 14. The mission aims to make India a global leader in solar energy. It envisages an installed solar generation capacity of 20,000 MW, 1,00,000 MW and 2,00,000 MW in 2020, 2030 and 2050, respectively. The government is expected to allocate Rs85,000 crore to Rs1,05,000 crore to support the mission over 30 years.
The mission aims to achieve tariff parity with conventional grid power between 2017 and 2020. The PMO is talking to all stake-holders in the industry while formulating the final draft for the mission. “The industry had wanted at least 20% power from renewable resources by 2020, but if the government makes it 15%, it will be good enough,” Solar Energy Society of India president Ajay Prakash Shrivastava said.
The mission assumes significance ahead of the Copenhagen conference on climate change, where developing nations are looking for a Montreal protocol-like agreement that ensures transfer of technology with voluntary contributions from industrialised countries.
India, along with other developing countries, is putting pressure on developed nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as the latter consume the most energy in the world, while developing countries need to focus on poverty alleviation. India unveiled a detailed roadmap to phase out the ozone-depleting greenhouse gases hydrochlorofluorocarbons on Tuesday.
