Renewable energy poised to attract $200 bn: Piyush Goyal

India's renewable energy sector is poised to attract $200 billion in investments, Power and Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal said Wednesday.

"In terms of companies which are participating, several have committed to invest in renewable energy and those commitments total to numbers which even are more than the entire mission we have set up," Goyal said here briefing reporters about the Renewable Energy Global Investors Meet & Expo (RE-Invest) Feb 15-17 being organised here by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

The central theme of RE-Invest is to attract investments for the renewable energy sector.

"We are looking at nearly twice the amount of interest than what our target is, more than 200 GW or 2,00,000 MW, with investments of $200 billion," Goyal said.

"I am talking to seven-eight states where there is a lot of solar energy potential and looking at whether we can have some common and simplified way to set up solar plants," he added.

"We are not only looking at large plants, so 40,000 MW we are planning to do through rooftop solar," the minister said.

Renewable energy currently contributes around 6.5 percent of the country's total electricity generation.

Meanwhile, in a seminar here Wednesday organised by the Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) on consumer participation in the electricity regulatory process, chairman of the UP Electricity Regulatory Commission Desh Deepak Verma underlined the role of regulators in protecting and encouraging consumer participation.

"The issue was extremely relevant and important for improving governance in the electricity sector," Verma said.