Union Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh on Monday said that by 2030, India will have more than 65 per cent of its power generation capacity from non-fossil fuels.
The country has already pledged for 170 GW of renewable energy (including large hydro), while infrastructure for another 80 GW is under construction. India has plans to hit 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030, Singh said at a conference in the national capital.
“India pledged 50 per cent (power generation capacity from non-fossil fuels) by 2030. We will not just reach 65 per cent (from renewable energy by 2030), we will have more than that (65 per cent capacity),” he said.
On diversifying solar manufacturing supply chains, the minister said that India was already working in this direction. He stated that India already has a manufacturing capacity of about 20 GW of solar PV capacity installed. “Another 15-20 GW is under construction. By 2025-26, I expect India’s manufacturing capacity to reach 90 GW, with which we can also help meet capacities of other countries,” he said.
Singh urged industry players to shift to manufacturing high-efficiency solar equipment. Talking about the recent deliberations with industry players on green hydrogen, he also said the industry has evinced interest for 25 million tonnes of green hydrogen capacity.
The green hydrogen manufacturing capacity could be 35-40 million tonnes, he noted.
He stressed the need to generate green hydrogen instead of decarbonised hydrogen.
He also said that the ministry was considering giving deemed (power) distribution licences in renewable energy space.
On the occasion, New & Renewable Energy Secretary Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi informed that the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is planning to open bids for the Rs 19,500-crore second tranche of production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme within a week.