India deliberates use of renewable energy on large-scale

A three-day exhibition on renewable energy sources, 'Renergy 2014' was held in Chennai.

Hundreds of Indian and international companies set up stalls to exhibit products and participated in conferences and seminars that covered larger use of renewable energy sources.

They discussed the use of solar energy, wind energy, waste to energy, biomass and energy efficiency in India.

India is blessed with abundant sunshine and wind capacity and participants believed these resources were not being harnessed efficiently.

The aim of the exhibition that bnegan on Thursday was to give private companies a common platform where ideas on sustainable power generation could be exchanged.

"We already know that renewable energy has huge scope in our country, whether it's wind or solar energy. Thousands of megawatts can be installed. However, the progress is very slow. To ensure the progress at a faster rate, different agencies need to sit together and discuss so that they can understand the issues, solve them and move forward together," said Chairman, Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association, Madhusudan Khemka.

Companies showcased latest products and gave live demonstrations highlighting concepts and prevailing trends in renewable energy.

"India has a very strong ecosystem for wind manufacturers. In fact, some of Indian wind manufacturers are exporting globally and the global companies are all here. As you are aware, all wind manufacturing happens domestically. To my knowledge, the Indian wind industry is capable of producing 10 gigawatts annually," said convener, Renergy 2014, Vineeth Vijayaraghavan.

India's power generation has grown - the peak deficit is down to 5.4 percent from 16.6 percent in 2008, government data shows - but getting the supply to end consumers is far trickier.