India's capacity for renewable energy rose by over 250% in 6-7 years: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that India has set an example in the world when it comes to protecting the environment, adding that the country's capacity for renewable energy has increased by more than 250 percent in 6-7 years.

Addressing a virtual meeting on Word Environment Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said," India's capacity for renewable energy has increased by more than 250 percent in 6-7 years. India is today in the top-5 countries of the world in terms of installed renewable energy capacity.

"Today, India is setting an example in front of the world that when it comes to protecting the environment. It is not necessary to block development works while doing so. Economy and Ecology both can go together, can move forward, this is the path India has chosen. 21st century India will get energy only from the modern thinking and modern policies of the 21st century. With this thinking, our government is continuously taking policy decisions in every field,"he said.

"India is moving ahead with a great global vision, be it the International Solar Alliance, realizing the vision of One Sun, One World, One Grid or the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure initiative. India is also aware of the challenges that are being faced due to climate change and is also working actively," stated Prime Minister Modi.

He emphasised that the capacity of solar energy has been increased by about 15 times in the last six years.

Prime Minister said that a large part of the country's railway network has been electrified and airports are also being rapidly made solar power-based.

"Before 2014, only seven airports had solar power facility, whereas today this number has increased to more than 50," Prime Minister Modi pointed out as he elaborated about his government's achievements.

"Today, on the occasion of World Environment Day, India has taken another big step. A detailed roadmap for the development of the ethanol sector has just been released. An ambitious E-100 pilot project related to the production and distribution of ethanol across the country has also been launched in Pune. Now ethanol has become one of the major priorities of 21st century India," said the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and Union Petroleum Transport Minister Dharmendra Pradhan addressed a virtual meeting in view of World Environment Day.

The event has been jointly organised by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

World Environment Day, which is celebrated annually on June 5 across the globe, is one of the biggest events organised by the United Nations (UN) to generate awareness about the significance of nature. The day is celebrated to tell people that nature should be respected for its values.