Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that India recognises the importance of evolving a low carbon strategy for inclusive and sustainable growth and will double renewable energy capacity by 2017. The prime minister was speaking at the Fourth Clean Energ
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that India recognises the importance of evolving a low carbon strategy for inclusive and sustainable growth and will double renewable energy capacity by 2017. The prime minister was speaking at the Fourth Clean Energy Ministerial event in New Delhi on Wednesday.
In his speech, he said, "We are also taking steps to exploit non-conventional clean energy sources such as solar and wind power, and also energy from the bio mass. It is proposed to double the renewable energy capacity in our country from 25,000 MW in 2012 to 55,000 MW by the year 2017."
The prime minister said the pace at which the country can expand its reliance on these new energy sources is constrained by the fact that they are more expensive than conventional energy but costs are expected to fall.
"The cost of solar energy for example has nearly halved over the last two years, though it remains higher than the cost of fossil fuel based electricity. If the cost imposed by carbon emissions is taken into account, then solar energy is more cost effective, but it is still more expensive," Singh added at the event.
The prime minister also said that the government is keen to ensure induction of the best technology and also encourage domestic production of the equipment needed.
He said, "India is potentially a large market for production of such equipment. It is also a potentially competitive and attractive production base for supplying other countries. We therefore strongly encourage global manufacturers to set up production facilities in this area."
India is hosting the fourth Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM4) on 17–18 April 2013. Energy ministers and other high-level delegates from more than 20 of the world’s leading economies are collaborating in the event to identify tangible steps that each government can take to generate more rapid progress toward accelerating the transition to a global clean energy economy.
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