India won't stop at 100 GW for Solar: Piyush Goyal

Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal has claimed that India is poised for huge growth in solar energy and it won't stop at the 100GW solar power target to be achieved by 2022.

"The 100 Gigawatt target for solar should not be a constraint. India won't stop at 100 GW. With the advent of new technology in storage, we are poised for huge growth. Solar growth will support landowners to derive income and solar industry to build their business," he said in a session organised by FICCI on 'India's Solar Story: Opportunities and Perspectives' at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.

This panel discussion highlighted the current solar energy landscape in India and the opportunities it presents for manufacturing, project development, grid integration, financing and investment, given that India is all set to become the third largest solar market globally.

He added that India should manufacture in India for India.

"We should assess what it would take for us to be an end to end solution provider for solar. We can manufacture at scale. A subsidy regime is not the best way to move forward. We need to draw up a regime where government can be an enabler for manufacturing to compete at good quality and prices. We need to foster partnerships with high quality technology suppliers. We will provide large tracts of land to manufacture at scale. Indian developers should also promote Indian manufacturing," Goyal added.

Solar energy will play a major role in India's transformation to clean energy and the government has initiated several projects in the sector, especially to improve the lives of common people.

A USD 10.4 million project to distribute "solar energy kits' worth $650 to around 16,000 families in border villages of Arunachal Pradesh state in the North Eastern India will give energy access to 100,000 people. "They are in dark now. Those people in remote villages do not have access to electricity."

The kit containing solar panel with batteries, bulbs, fan, and a small television will help education of children in those families, he said. The distribution of the kits will be started soon.