Indian govt. approves $922 Million for solar plan

By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 24 November 2009, 18:22 IST   |    3 Comments
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Hong Kong: India is going ahead with an ambitious $20 billion solar mission aimed at increasing the nation's installed solar capacity to 20 gigawatts (GW) by 2022. This is a move intended to strengthen its position at next month's United Nation climate change talks in Copenhagen. According to BusinessGreen, the cabinet has sanctioned $922 million for the initial phase of the scheme. The plan is expected to dramatically increase solar energy production in India from six megawatts (MW) currently to 200MW by 2012, rising to 20GW by 2020, and 100GW by 2030. An earlier draft of the plan called for 200GW of capacity by 2050, although officials last week avoided mentioning the target, raising suspicions that the government may have had difficulties agreeing a date for it to hit the 200GW goal. The money will be used to provide incentive schemes for the production and installation of solar systems, while offering tax breaks and financial incentives to utilities that purchase the clean power. Funds will also be allotted for solar research and development projects. Further details of the scheme are expected to be announced in the next few weeks. It is expected that India will ask developed nations to help fund the plan, as officials have previously spelled out a need for foreign expertise and capital in order to roll out large-scale clean energy projects. The cabinet's move comes weeks before the world's nations meet in the Copenhagen to negotiate an international climate treaty. During the event, India is expected reiterate its stance that renewable power schemes, such as its solar mission, represent a more efficient means for developing countries to meet climate change goals than setting binding carbon dioxide reduction goals.

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