India's energy requirements expected to double in next 20 years: PM Modi

Underlining that the energy requirement of India is expected to double in the next 20 years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that denying this energy to the people of India will be denying life itself to millions.

Delivering the inaugural address at TERI's World Sustainable Development Summit, PM Modi said sustainable development has been a key focus area for him during his time in public office.

"Environment and sustainable development have been key focus areas for me all through my 20 years in office, first in Gujarat and now at the national level. ...Our commitments to the planet, to nature, have also been fragile. A lot has been said over the last 50 years, since the 1972 Stockholm conference... very little has been done. But in India, we have walked the talk," he said.

Stressing that equitable energy access to the poor has been a cornerstone of his environmental policy, the Prime Minister said through Ujjwala Yojana, more than 90 million households have been provided access to clean cooking fuel.

"Under the PM-KUSUM scheme, we have taken renewable energy to the farmers. We are encouraging farmers to set up solar panels, use it and sell surplus power to the grid. Standalone solar pumps, as well as efforts for solarising existing pumps, are being scaled up," he added.

The Prime Minister said his government's focus on ''Chemical-free Natural Farming'' will also help promote sustainability and equity.

Giving another example of initiatives taken by the government, PM Modi said the Centre's LED-bulb distribution schemes have been running for over seven years which has helped save more than 220 billion units of electricity and 180 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emission per year.

He also said the government's plan to set up the National Hydrogen Mission aims to tap into Green Hydrogen, an exciting technology to power India's future.

Furthermore, PM Modi said that environmental sustainability can only be achieved through climate justice.

"Energy requirements of the people of India are expected to nearly double in the next twenty years. Denying this energy would be denying life itself to millions. Successful climate actions also need adequate financing. For this, developed countries need to fulfil their commitments on finance and technology transfer," he added.

( With inputs from ANI )

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