Major pension funds invested in renewables, says Singh
The Indian renewable industry has attracted US$64 billion Foreign investment in Renewable Industry in the last 4 years, including investments by major Pension funds, said R. K. Singh, Minister of Power, New and Renewable Energy.
With participation by such heavyweight investors, India has emerged as one of the most attractive investment destinations in the world, he told the Chief Ministers’ Plenary session of 3rd Global Re-Invest on 27 Nov 2020.
“RE is becoming cheaper in India and I would like to congratulate all CMs for the great work but the work is just beginning and we will need to collaborate to achieve our targets,” said Singh, calling for continuing work for enhancing renewable energy in power production.
India has done exemplary work in the space of renewable energy and running the largest energy access expansion plan.
“We have connected every household, connected whole country into one integrated grid and we are the only G20 nation which has been able to keep the temperatures within 2 degrees by its actions,” said the Minister.
Highlighting the achievements of Gujarat, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said his state has been a pioneer in the space of renewable energy and in the last 3 years, the capacity of RE has increased considerably despite challenges.
“We found solutions by involving people & appropriate partners and companies creating a win-win situation for RE”, said Rupani, adding that Gujarat has a vision of achieving 5,000 MW solar and bringing solar energy to agriculture.
The cost of RE has been reduced to Rs.2 per unit for now from Rs.16 when Rajasthan started on renewable energy, added Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
“Rajasthan is the 2nd largest state in terms of investments in solar energy projects. This is sure to reduce further. It is our duty to work towards renewable energy and climate change.”
Gehlot highlighted incentives extended to the investors in terms of reduction in stamp duty, easy availability of land, 10 years’ electricity charge-free, 90% subsidy is GST etc.
“Rajasthan has 125,000 acres of desert land across cities which have been utilised in Jodhpur and Bikaner for large mega-scale solar projects,” he told the conference.
“With Madhya Pradesh being a centrally located state, it has a lot of possibilities and can supply RE-power to neighbouring states if needed,” assured Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
About 37k circuit transmission lines and service stations are being set up in Madhya Pradesh which is also planning a 15,000 MW solar project, costing Rs.5,000 crores.
“Besides starting work on power transmission, we have also started survey work for some other innovative RE projects, like floating solar among in the state,” he announced.
“Himachal Pradesh is making all efforts to harness RE potential. “Our target is to achieve 24k MW of RE. So far, we produce 10K MW of Hydro Power and plan to double these numbers in the next decade,” added Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.
Uttar Pradesh plans to set up 12,000 MW of solar energy parks in UP, informed Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Two plants of 600 MW each will in Jhansi will be commissioned soon, he added.
The State’s investor-friendly policies provide open-access and online single-window entry for projects and parks.
“By 2022, we plan to increase our solar energy capacity by 10,700 MW out of this 6,000 MW will be for utilities and 4,00 0MW for rooftop solar,” said Yogi.
“Ladakh has been envisioned to become a carbon-neutral Union Territory and renewable energy will play an important role in this regard,” said Lieutenant Governor Radha Krishna Mathur.
Based on various assessments done, Ladakh has a potential of 30 GW of solar, 5 GW of wind, 2 GW of hydro and 300 MW of geothermal.
A 10,000 MW project, as a first phase, is also being planned, he added. #OPEC #renewables #energy #investment #manufacturing /fiinews.com
