Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (September 16, 2024) inaugurated the fourth Global Renewable Energy Investors’ Meet and Expo (RE-INVEST) in his home State of Gujarat, and said that India was at the forefront of developing renewable energy sources, including solar power, to fight climate change.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Modi said 140 crore Indians had pledged to make the country the world’s third largest economy, and the renewable energy sector would power the country’s rapid economic growth in the years to come.
“India aims to not only reach the top but to sustain at the position,” Mr. Modi said, adding that the world believes India is the best bet of the 21st century.
“India is preparing a base not only for today but for the next thousand years,” he said, adding that in the first 100 days of his third term, the government had taken multiple decisions to expand physical and social infrastructure.
The PM outlined some of the major announcements of his government in this time, including the decisions to create 12 new industrial cities and eight high-speed road corridor projects; the launch of over 15 semi-high speed Vande Bharat trains; promoting research with the inception of a fund worth ₹1 trillion; various initiatives to drive e-mobility; high-performance biomanufacturing and the Bio-E3 policy. The creation of a viability gap funding scheme for offshore wind energy projects worth more than ₹7,000 crore was a big move to promote off-shore wind farms in the coastal States, he said.
India has been well aware of its energy requirements to make it a developed nation by 2047, and had decided to build its future on the basis of renewable energy sources, including solar power, wind power, nuclear power and hydro power, he said, because conventional energy supply sources were depleting and were also highly polluting.
“India is the first G20 nation to achieve the climate commitments set in Paris — nine years before the deadline,” the PM said in his inaugural address at the event, in the presence of several Chief Ministers and other functionaries, and delegates from around 40 countries.
Lauding State governments for developing solar and wind energy infrastructure, he emphasised the government’s target of achieving 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030, and said that the government had “turned the green transition into a people’s movement”.
During his speech, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader also recalled his re-election as Prime Minister for a third term, and added that the country’s aspirations were the reason for it. Mr. Modi also stressed that the poor, Dalits and deprived believed that the government’s third term would become a guarantee for a dignified life for marginalised sections of society.
India is on the path to constructing seven crore houses, more than the population of many countries, while four crore houses had already been handed out to beneficiaries in the previous two terms, since 2014, the PM said.
The country is also working towards producing 31,000 MW of hydropower with an outlay of ₹12,000 crore, he said.
On the first day of the event, several States announced their plans for the development of renewable energy sources. Gujarat has pledged renewable energy capacity addition of 128.60 GW by 2030 — the highest among all the States. Andhra Pradesh has committed to adding 72.60 GW capacity, followed by Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh at 62.73 GW, 57.71 GW, and 47.63 GW, respectively.
Minister of New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi said banks and financial institutions had committed to an additional $386 billion (₹32.45 lakh crore) financing by 2030 for project development.
Published - September 16, 2024 09:55 pm IST
