“Affordability, Access & Inclusiveness Driving India’s Energy Policies”: Shri Piyush Goyal
The growth story in India has just begun with the country set to become
the largest energy market representing the aspirations of a billion plus
people in the coming years. This is even more significant in view of
the global scenario when most developed economies are witnessing a
declining trend in their energy demand. "India, which is projected to
see its demand quadrupling in the coming years will also lead the way in
scaling up energy efficiency in line with its commitments towards
combating the challenges of climate change," said Shri Piyush Goyal,
Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and New and Renewable
Energy. He was speaking at the session, “Investors Roundtable on Renewable Energy” which was organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry in London on Tuesday.
Shri Goyal further elaborated on how India was developing its energy
policies that was driven by affordability, access and inclusiveness.
"The idea is to make power available to all at affordable prices. Our
policies have to make a difference to the last man at the bottom of the
pyramid and change his life for the better," he said while elaborating
on how cost will play a big role in the Indian market. Citing examples
of how solar tariffs have dipped through competitive transparent systems
he emphasized that scale will have a large role to play in bringing
down costs.
Calling on investors in UK, Shri Goyal said that India and UK are
natural partners and a deeper engagement can lead to a win win for both
nations and economies. While India will gain from new technologies, UK
can make the same technologies more accessible by manufacturing in
India, capitalizing on Indian skills and the scale to bring down costs.
India has set a renewable energy target of 175 GW of renewable energy by
2022 that comprises 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind capacity. In a
bid to bring the global community together on a larger platform of
cooperation, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched the
International Solar Alliance in November last on the sidelines of COP 21
at Paris. The ISA will try and bring the advantages of progress and
technological advances to the larger community. Shri Goyal said, "We
believe that we have to play our role in helping countries that have
been left behind in the development journey and this can be done if the
global community comes together." Sometimes such decisions come at a
cost but such costs have to be paid for a better and sustainable future,
he further added. He was referring to how India has chosen to embrace
renewable energy despite having little to do with the large greenhouse
emissions that pose challenges today.
Elaborating on how India is leading from the front on issues relating to
climate change, the Minister said that India is among the few nations
that has imposed a carbon tax even as measures are being taken to scale
up energy efficiency and de carbonize the transport industry. "With
India selling 770 million LED bulbs everyday India will soon become the
LED capital of the world. Prices of LED bulbs have come down to 55 pence
from over £3.5 two years ago," said Shri Goyal even as he detailed
plans of how electric vehicles were being promoted as an alternative to
ones being run on petroleum fuels. For a country like India, replacing
petroleum fuel is even more important as this would reduce import
dependence and ensure energy security.
Speaking about his earlier engagements during the day, Shri Goyal said
that he had invited his British counterpart for a ministerial level
engagement to Delhi in June. During the course of the day, he had met
with senior government functionaries including including Lord Bourne,
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change,
Lord Jim O’Neill, Commercial Secretary to the Treasury and Nick Hurd,
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development.
CII led a strong 12 member industry delegation accompanying the Minister
and members included Mr Rahul Munjal, Managing Director, Hero Future
Energies; Mr Ratul Puri, Chairman and Managing Director, Hindustan Power
projects Pvt Ltd; Mr Deepak Amitabh Chairman and Managing Director,
Power Trading Corporation of India Ltd and Mr Ravi Kailas, Chairman,
Mytrah Energy.
RM/
(Release ID :139024)
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