Emphasising the lead taken by India in renewable energy capacity addition in the world, prime minister Narendra Modi has sought a significant upping of investments by both the private sector and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in the sector.
“The opportunities offered by India in solar, wind and biogas [segments] are nothing short of a gold mine or oil field for the private sector,” he said while addressing the post-budget webinar on ‘Green Growth’ in New Delhi on Thursday. “Since 2014 the country had been at the forefront in renewable energy capacity addition among major economies. Our track record reveals that we achieve the targets set by us well ahead of the determined timelines,” he added.
He especially highlighted how the country had completed the addition of 40 per cent renewable energy capacity to its total installed power generation capacity nine years ahead of schedule and 10 per cent of ethanol blending five months ahead of schedule. The country would be adding another 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based electricity capacity by 2030 as well as accomplish the target of achieving 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol by 2025, a good five years ahead of the 2030 cutoff.
He said that the country was now looking at producing 5 million metric tonnes (MMT) of green hydrogen through the National Green Hydrogen Mission.
“More than Rs 19,000 crore has been provisioned to encourage participation in this programme. Other than green hydrogen mission, there are several other investment opportunities available to you such as electrolyser manufacturing, green steel manufacturing, manufacturing of fuel cells for long-haul transportation,” he said in a message directed at potential investors looking at investing in the mission.
He added that the country also had the potential for manufacturing 10,000 million cubic metres (MCM) of biogas from cow dung and 150,000 MCM of gas from agricultural residue.
“This alone can contribute 8 per cent to the city gas distribution grid in the country,” he said.
The government had, therefore, announced plans for setting up 500 new biogas plants under the GOBARdhan scheme for Rs 10 lakh crore.
“Other than the private sector, the government’s ‘Waste to Energy’ programme is creating a market for both the private sector as well as MSME players. Together with the agricultural waste generated by rural India the municipal waste generated by cities presents an attractive proposition for compressed bio gas (CBG) production,” the prime minister said.
Reiterating that India presented a huge potential to lead the world when it came to green energy technologies, he said this would not only forward the cause of global good but also help in generating green jobs.
The Union Budget proposals for FY2023-24 cover diverse aspects of climate change and energy transition under the Rs 35,000 crore allocated for the purpose. These comprise funding for the National Green Hydrogen Mission and biofuels, viability gap funding (VGF) for 4000 MWh of battery storage systems, capital support for a renewable energy project in the union territory of Ladakh, and the establishment of a programme for facilitating green credit.
This was the first in a series of 12 post-budget webinars being organised by the central government to seek ideas and suggestions for the effective implementation of the initiatives announced in the Union Budget 2023.
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