Indian Ministry For Renewable Energy Seeks $1.5 Billion In Budget Allocation
The Indian Ministry of New & Renewable Energy will seek a budgetary allocation of more than twice the amount it received in last year’s budget.
According to Indian media reports, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has sought allocation of Rs 10,000 crore (around $1.5 billion) in the budget for the next financial year to be presented later this month. This is a significant increase over the amount of Rs 4,500 crore (around $670 million) allocated in the previous budget.
The ministry has stated that several large programmes have already been initiated and, thus, a significantly large allocation will be needed to see them through. These programmes include the Green Energy Corridors, a nationwide transmission grid dedicated for power generated from renewable energy projects; the ultra mega solar power projects scheme, wherein 20 GW solar power capacity will be added across several states; and the viability gap funding scheme for setting up solar power projects by offering project developers capital cost support.
Last year, India increased its targeted installed renewable energy capacity significantly to 175 GW by March 2022. This includes 100 GW of solar power and 60 GW of wind energy capacity operational by that year. At the end of 2015, the installed renewable energy capacity was just under 39 GW. This leaves additions of around 136 GW of capacity in just over 6 years. The ministry had set a capacity addition target for the current financial year of just 4.5 GW.
According to some estimates, India will require an investment of $150 billion to achieve the 175 GW by 2022 target.
The ministry will require significant investment especially for its solar power targets. According to the its own estimates, the ministry expects a solar power capacity addition of 10.8 GW in the next financial year that starts on 1 April 2016. This is significantly large compared to the 1.4 GW capacity addition targeted in the current financial year.
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