Muttewar calls upon Business Community to Develop Renewable Energy
The Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy, Shri Vilas Muttewar said that with the steady growth in the Indian economy, the gap between demand for energy and supply has further widened. To supplement our additional energy requirements, renewable sources of energy have proved to be an attractive proposition. Inaugurating a three day Renewable Energy India 2008 Expo, International Exhibition and Conference here today, the Minister further said climate change due to excessive use of non-renewable sources of energy and its limitation has further increased the urgency of finding environment friendly ways of generating energy. Remembering late Prime Minister, Shri Rajiv Gandhi whose birthday the Ministry celebrated yesterday as Rajiv Gandhi Akshay Urja Divas, the Minister said it was typical of late Prime Minister’s visionary spirit and foresight that long before the depletion of traditional resources of energy, he gave highest priority to harness the tremendous potential of renewable energy.
Shri Muttewar said that our country is blessed with abundance of environment friendly renewable resources such as solar, wind, biomass and hydro. Explaining potential of solar energy, he said a major solution has been widely recognized. Since energy is available in abundance and free of cost. The Ministry is trying to make solar power affordable through incentivizing its generation and research and development activities. Efficient and quality energy systems are available for use in rural, urban, commercial and industrial sector, he added. The most ambitious and entirely market driven programme of wind power has been highly successful as India currently occupies fourth position globally, with an installed capacity of 8.7 GW. In the 11th Five year Plan period, the Ministry has a target to achieve 14 GW energy through renewables. Shri Muttewar called upon the business community to avail financial and fiscal incentives to develop wind power. He assured that concessional import duty on certain components, excise duty exemption and 10-years tax holiday on income generated from wind power projects will continue to be extended to the private players.
The Minister informed that 8700 unelectrified villages have been provided renewable energy under Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana by his Ministry. Access to this electricity will uplift and transfer socio-economic structure at grassroot level and migration from villages to cities will be stopped. He also informed that the Ministry has strengthened research base and industrial infrastructure to keep pace with international development. He appealed business community to give active cooperation and participation in these efforts. The Minister also inaugurated various stalls in the exhibition and visited stalls.
Shri Deepak Gupta, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said that global warming is a real and significant threat to our health, economy and environment. Addressing the gathering, Shri Gupta said energy conservation and development of alternative sustainable energy resources such as wind and solar power represent crucial investments in the future. The Secretary said wind energy is most advanced with a large installed capacity worldwide while bio-fuels like ethanol and bio diesel hold promise. He further informed that India has wind installations of 8757 MW, which is third largest in the world that includes both onshore and offshore locations. It is pollution free and green energy, he added. About solar energy, Shri Gupta said the Centre’s move to offer fiscal incentives to solar cell and photovoltaic (PV) manufacturers coupled with surge in global demand for renewable energy resources has triggered domestic and multi-national companies to set up shop in India. Regarding hydropower potential, Shri Gupta added that India has 5th rank in the world and yet it has developed less than 25% of its full potential. He informed that various initiatives to accelerate the development have been taken up in India to harness the hydro potential, preparation of viable models for private sector participation, facilitation for trading and participation with other countries and execution of projects with inter state aspects by Central public sector unit. The Secretary said the challenge of new and changing technologies is never ending. He expressed the hope that all participants will take advantage of this platform.
This 3-day Renewable Energy India 2008 Expo and conference have been organized with the support of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, IREDA and others. Exhibitors from 19 countries are participating. There are 200 participants focusing primarily on solar technologies and wind, small hydro and biomass. The objective of the conference is to drive awareness of technological advancements, innovative practices and regulatory framework to promote future growth of renewables in India. The conference endeavors to bring together industry leaders, technocrats, investors, government officials and academia to discuss the emerging opportunities in the India renewable industry. The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology is celebrating a German Renewbale energy Day tomorrow and German Energy Efficiency Day on 23rd August at the Expo.
KP/DT
(Release ID :41606)