New Delhi, Aug 10 (Inditop.com) An ambitious blueprint to produce 20 gigawatt (20,000 MW) of solar power will be ready by the end of this year to augment India’s energy security in a sustained and environment friendly manner, Renewable Energy Secretary Deepak Gupta said here Monday.
“We expect to be able to roll out the plan by the end of this calendar year. It is with the cabinet and should be okayed in the next couple of months,” Gupta told an international conference on renewable energy at the Pragati Maidan exposition centre.
According to Debashish Majumdar, chairman of the state-run Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency, the country is expected to invest some $20 billion over the next five years for renewable energy projects.
He said an investment of $3 billion had already been made during the past two years as part of the plans to add 14.5 gigawatt of capacity to generate renewable power by March 2012.
Out of India’s total installed capacity of 150,323.41 MW, 7.7 percent comes from clean sources of energy such as solar, wind and biomass energy projects.
The renewable energy secretary, during an interaction with reporters, also announced that India would host the International Renewable Energy Conference next month — the fourth in the series after a similar event in Washington, Beijing and Bonn.
“This will be the premier all-renewables gathering in India ever,” Gupta said, adding that over 9,000 delegates were expected to participate at the three-day event, including experts, academics, government leaders and bankers, besides 500 exhibitors.
“The conference will also bring together ministers, high-level decision makers and policy level thinkers from a number of participating countries,” Gupta said.
Meanwhile, the US upped its scale of participation in the ongoing exhibition in New Delhi by opening the first-ever pavilion showcasing cutting edge American renewable energy technologies.
