Exclusive | India at the forefront of energy transition: RK Singh

The minister said the government has made total investments worth Rs 17 lakh crore in the power sector since 2014 and another Rs 17.5 lakh crore are in the pipeline.

India’s renewable energy capacity addition has been the fastest in the world in last five years, barring China, Union power and new and renewable energy minister RK Singh said at Moneycontrol’s Policy Next Summit on January 18.

Delivering the keynote at the summit, Singh said along with energy transition, the government has also ensured universal access to electricity for 28 million households in only 19 months.

“Today I have 180,000 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy capacity. We had earlier pledged that by 2030, 40 percent of our energy capacity will come from non-fossils. But today, our non-fossil electricity generation capacity stands at 44 percent. We are way beyond the target that too seven years in advance. So we have upped our target now and pledged that 50 percent of our capacity will come from non-fossil sources by 2030,” the Union minister added.

Power Minister is confident of surpassing the target of adding 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, of which about 65 percent would be though non-fossil fuels.

The minister said the government has made total investments worth Rs 17 lakh crore in the power sector since 2014 and another Rs 17.5 lakh crore are in the pipeline.

“We are adding around 99,000 MW of renewable energy capacity, which is under construction,” Singh said.

Talking about universal access to electricity and energy security, the Union minister said no country can develop if it does not have sufficient electricity.

“One distinct feature separating developed and developing countries is that power does not go off. No country can be developed without electricity. I believe electricity is the most important infrastructure which is a marker of development,” Singh said.