India expects to achieve a renewable energy capacity target of 260 gigawatt (GW) by 2024, a government official said on Friday, as the country sees rapid growth in renewable capacity backed by government orders, private equity and pension fund investments.
India's renewable power capacity soared by almost 150% in the last five years to 77.6 GW, while the government set a target of 175 GW by 2022.
India is also formulating a policy to build a 30 GW local capacity for manufacturing solar cells and modules by 2024, Anand Kumar, secretary to the ministry of new and renewable energy, said at an event in New Delhi.
India might surpass the 175 GW target and achieve 225 GW of capacity by 2022, Power Minister RK Singh said last year, but did not provide an official figure at the time.
Higher investments
The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects India to revise its renewable energy capacity addition target in the coming years, a top executive of the energy body said on Friday.
India is likely to revise the target upwards and this will entail a higher flow of investments into the renewable energy sector, Fatih Birol, executive director of IEA, said in New Delhi.
India’s energy sector saw an investment of about $90 billion last year, Birol said.
