Will achieve target of 175 GW renewable power by 2022: Singh

New and Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh Thursday expressed confidence that the government will not only achieve the target of installing 175 GW of renewable power by 2022 but also cross that milestone.

He said in Lok Sabha that so far total renewable power capacity of 33.47 GW has been installed in the country during the last three years and current year till May 31.

The government has set a target of installing 175 GW of grid connected renewable power capacity from various renewable energy sources by 2022.

This includes 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from bio-power and 5 GW from small hydro power.

"By 2022, we will not only achieve the target but also cross that," Singh said while replying to a question during Question Hour.

He said the installed capacity is 3.58 lakh MW.

Singh added that India is moving very fast in adding renewable energy capacities.

He also said that in the next 15-20 days, a scheme will be launched for farmers where they can set up 2 MW solar panel to produce power which will be bought by the government.

Through this, he said, farmers can earn upto Rs one lakh per year.

"In the next 15-20 days, we will be coming out with this scheme. It will be very beneficial for farmers," he said.

On the supplementary question, he said there will be a system that farmers who don't have capital can give their land to developers to install the 2 MW solar plant on their land.

Talking about Bihar, the minister said he has written several letters to the state government seeking proposals for setting up of solar parks but has not received any response.

"Lot of land is there in Bihar to set up these parks...There is a power deficit in Bihar and they need power," he said.

On the question about Suryamitra Skill Development Programme, launched in 2015, he informed the House that the target is to train 50,000 Suryamitras by 2020 in the country including in the state of Bihar.

"So far 31,500 have been trained and we will increase that number in Bihar," Singh said.

The programme has been designed with an objective to develop skilled and employable workforce (Suryamitras) to perform various jobs related to installation, commissioning and operation and maintenance of solar PV systems.

The complete financial assistance for Suryamitra Skill Development programme is provided by the Ministry which include course fee, boarding and lodging charge and the assessment charge.

A total of 31,092 Suryamitras have been trained up to March 31 including 1139 Suryamitras in Bihar.

Further he added that the government will provide all support to the textiles industry in Bhiwandi.